Truthful Living

by Napoleon Hill

  SERMONS are tiresome and this is preaching. But a million young men, and another million would be more useful, more happy, if they could apply to themselves this sermon. It tells, in a new form, the old story of the ant and the grasshopper. La Fontaine in his fable told it to the French and to all the modern civilized world. Aesop, the Greek, of two thousand five hundred years ago, taught the story to the French writer. And to Aesop the story came from Asia. Where the Asiatic writer got it, we do not know. But we know that it is a story as old as human intelligence, but always new and true – and here it is again. And you will not waste your time if you think about it. Ant and the grasshopper meet in Cold of Winter.

  The ant is comfortable, well supplied with food, for she has been working through the hot weather. The grasshopper shivering, starving, begs for help. “What have you been doing all Summer?” asked the ant. “May it please you,” replied the grasshopper, “I have been singing.” “Very well,” says the ant, “if you have been singing all Summer, now dance in Winter.” The hard-hearted ant closes the door, ends the conversation and leaves the grasshopper, who has spent the Summer singing to spend a few minutes of the Winter dying.

  You young men who allow youth, which is the Summer of human beings, to drift by, working as little as you dare in Winter, working very little indeed in Summer, YOU ARE THE GRASSHOPPER OF CIVILIZATION. Later on in your Winter, in your old age, when the cold comes, and work and pay are hard to find, you will perhaps wonder at the hard-hearted selfishness of the man who has been working while you were singing, and who says, “You were singing, taking life easily, while you were young, now DANCE TO KEEP YOURSELF WARM.”

  The world is a great ant that has little sympathy for poverty in old age. The grasshopper of the fable was more fortunate than old men begging for work, asking for a chance that is refused, struggling vainly to make up for days wasted. Far better than cold charity and the poorhouse is the grasshopper’s fate when the snow falls and frost comes.

  Young men who plan their Summer vacation, and wonder how much time they will have for idleness during the warm weather, bear this in mind: YOU CAN BE ONE OF THE SUCCESSFUL MEN IF YOU WILL IT. The Successful man is one INDEPENDENT of others. The man who is not independent, lives and dies in slavery. No matter how big your pay, if you do not make yourself independent by hard work, self-control, and saving – independent of job and employer – you are nothing but your employer’s slave. He owns your TIME and HE who owns your time OWNS YOU.

  The man in this story is one of the human grasshoppers preparing for old age of want. He watches the bees, sees them come and go ceaselessly, all working except the one queen that produces the young bees. He knows that the drones, that do no work, are killed and thrown out of the hive by the workers at a stated time. “Interesting little creatures,” says he to himself. He does not realize that he is one of the drones, waiting for old Time, the worker with his sting, to throw him out and put an end to him.

  The difference between a miserable drone and worker in the hive is this: The worker has a sting, the drone has NONE. The drone is big, fat, good-looking. He will not work, and he has no sting. When the time comes, the workers attack the drones, sting them to death, drag their dead bodies out of the hive, and proceed with useful work. Young men, the sting is to the bee what WILL POWER IS TO THE MAN. Man can add to will power by CULTIVATING THE WILL, and make the will drive him to work and to independence.

  Imagine a man wrecked, out in the middle of the lake, floating idly on his back, and admiring the scenery, hour after hour. You would say to him, “Young man, you had better turn over and swim toward the shore. Darkness is coming on, and you won’t find your ways so easily. This is no time to be floating.”

  To the millions of young men, thinking only of the rest they have not earned, indulging in waste of time that means sorrow in old age, we say this: THIS IS NO TIME FOR YOU TO BE FLOATING ON YOUR BACK. This is no time for you to be admiring the scenery, wondering how you can enjoy yourself and escape unpleasant work. Winter is coming, and old age, which is the Winter of Life, is coming. Time does not stop and rest when you stop. Life is a big ocean, and you are out in the middle of it. This is the time to get toward the shore, toward safety, toward AN INDEPENDENT FOOTING.

  Go to the poorhouse, to the parks where the miserable sleep at night, to the prisons, to men vainly looking for work, and you will see men who failed to swim and never reached the shore.

  Now a few words for the man who is not idle, who has ambition. For him who looks upon work as the main thing, upon pleasure as secondary, the beginning of this editorial is not needed.

  The time to gain success is when others stand still. He who runs while others sit and think will win the race.

  The warm Summer days are days of sitting down for the majority of workers.

  Everybody runs fast in the BEGINNING of a race. The cool months are the beginning of the race of each year. The hot Summer months are the end of the race. Every race is won at the END, won by the man who keeps running as fast as he can, after others have begun to get tired and go slowly.

  Let you young men who have ambition be among those that run as fast in hot weather as in the days of resting, of slowing up, of sitting down.

  We do not mean that you should not have reasonable vacation, if you can get it. But make it a sensible vacation. Make it all outdoor life, exercise, regular hours, careful eating, wise reading.

  A vacation, reasonable in length, sane and intelligent in its use, is the most profitable part of your working year, adding years to life and efficiency to the hardworking days.

  Do not, however, imagine that a reasonable vacation means a vacation free from thought.

  THE BRAIN NEVER GETS TIRED.

  One little part of the brain used over and over becomes fatigued. The way to rest that tired part of the brain is TO USE THE BRAIN ENERGY THAT HAS LAIN IDLE.

  When you go on a vacation, you make it a point to use the muscles that have not been working. Make it also a point to use these parts of the brain that have not been working.

  “A vacation, reasonable in length, sane and intelligent in its use, is the most profitable part of your working year, adding years to life and efficiency to the hardworking days.”

  – Napoleon Hill

  Read good books, a new kind. Think earnestly on new subjects. Question those with whom you come in contact. Find out how THEY live – the real study of mankind is man, as you know. Study yourself, while you are working, to make sure that you are doing your best. Study others on your vacation, talk with them, question them, LISTEN to them, that you may learn from others, and from the thoughts of others.

  When Darwin went on his famous ocean trip, he might have made it a vacation in the usual sense. It was a vacation, but it made him a greater man in science, better, more useful. He brought back knowledge and health from his vacation. See that you do the same.

  Ambitious young men, you should realize that days of idleness for others are YOUR OPPORTUNITY.

  You can succeed in life only as you succeed in a race, by passing others. And you can succeed most easily while the other man is sleeping in the hammock, drowsing, “floating” on his back getting nowhere, not realizing that he is far from the shore of independence.

  HE REPRESENTS YOUR OPPORTUNITY.

  For this is a world of competition, and success is built on the failure of others. An intelligent young man said to his father there were too many fools in the world. “Don’t be too hard on fools,” said the father. “If there were not so many fools, we might not be so well off.”

  Very cordially yours,

  80 East Randolph St.

  Chicago, U.S.A.

  GITOMER’S THOUGHTFUL ACTIONS

  HOW TO IMPLEMENT THIS LESSON

  “Time is money.” You’ve heard that expression a thousand times or more. And as many times as you’ve heard it, you have universally ignored it. So if time is money, what are you doing with yours? Are you spending it or investing it? And how
are your time investments working for you? Hill stresses the value of time and gives examples of how to utilize it for maximum return. Here’s what to do:

  1. Identify your 4–5 most important uses of time. Family, exercise, sales career, travel, whatever.

  2. Create a WEEKLY TIME ALLOCATION chart. Divide your daily awake time into 30-minute segments.

  3. Enter the IMPORTANT elements from #1 into the chart as necessary. This will allow you to concentrate on the IMPORTANT elements of your life.

  “Do not, however, imagine that a reasonable vacation means a vacation free from thought.

  THE BRAIN NEVER GETS TIRED.”

  – Napoleon Hill

  Lesson Number

  9

  SEVEN SUCCESS RULES

  (An after-the-lesson visit with Mr. Hill)

  GITOMER INSIGHT: Everyone is looking for the secrets to success. If this is you, STOP LOOKING and start reading and studying. There is no “one” secret. But there are ideas, strategies, thoughts, and philosophies that you can adapt and adopt to your personal situation, desires, family needs, and work ethic. Here are Hill’s rules. And once you read them, you will see that they are ALL immediately adaptable AND adoptable into your life.

  Well, here we are, on the ninth lesson! You have now passed over the dryest part of your course. From now on you will be walking in clover up to your eyes. The work will be so intensely interesting that you will look forward to the receipt of your lesson assignments with as much eagerness as a boy who expected a new glove, ball, and bat.

  We have many surprises in store for you!

  We are going to give you much more than we promised when you began this course. You have been faithful thus far. You have gone over the dull portion of the course in a way that proves that you have will power, determination, and stick-to-it-iveness. You have shown faith, not only in your instructors BUT IN YOURSELF AS WELL! Congratulations! The man who believes in himself has his battle for SUCCESS nine parts won.

  In this little visit with you, I am going to give you what I believe to be seven of the most important rules for success – rules which all men who have succeeded have observed in some form or other. Mind you, I do not say that even strict observance of these rules alone will make you successful, but it will go a long way toward it. The first rule is one that I am perfectly sure you ought to observe. Some of these rules I lay claims to, while others were suggested by an editorial which appeared in one of the great Metropolitan newspapers; just which one I do not now recall – if I did I would gladly give credit. Here are the rules:

  FIRST: You must believe in yourself. You must cultivate SELF-CONFIDENCE!

  I place this above all the others because I believe it to be the most important. Many years ago, three young men graduated from Business College and went out into the world to build their careers. Two of them had only common school educations while the third was a college graduate. One of the “common-school” boys is now Advertising Manager of one of New York’s largest Department Stores at a salary of $10,000 a year. The other “common-school” boy is writing this little “after-the-lesson visit” for you. And the college graduate – well, his record is not what we two “ordinary” boys thought it would be.

  He came in to see me a few months ago. He had on a dirty shirt. His shoes were out at the toes. He was the worst-looking “tramp” I had seen in a long while. I hadn’t seen him for ten years, so I didn’t know him at first.

  He told me his story. He had failed in everything he undertook. I took him home with me, gave him a suit of clothes, a clean shirt and collar, and got him a job. The next day he was back again. He had lost his job! The trouble was lack of SELF-CONFIDENCE. Nothing else under the sun! He had schooling a plenty. He had plenty of common sense. But what he didn’t have was faith in himself, so he is a miserable failure.

  SECOND: You must cultivate ENTHUSIASM.

  ENTHUSIASM is one of the great factors in success. It is important especially because IT HELPS A MAN GET A START.

  Unfortunately, enthusiasm is one of the qualities most difficult to cultivate. It is almost a part of a man’s own self, like his dark hair, wide shoulders, or regular features. Yet even enthusiasm CAN be cultivated, and it should be cultivated.

  Begin by getting out of your mind the critical, complaining, dissatisfied feelings. That is like pulling weeds out of a field. If a man can get out of his mind the foolish feeling of complaint, of mortified vanity, he will be clearing the field for enthusiasm to grow.

  Enthusiasm is largely a matter of vitality, health, and strength. Get up in the morning after eight hours good sleep, and you will be enthusiastic – ready to attack any proposition. Get up with five hours’ sleep and a night foolishly spent, and you will have no strength for enthusiasm. Cultivate your strength, save it, and train yourself to look enthusiastically, and hopefully at the world, and scorn its difficulties! Enthusiasm is the electric power which runs the motor of self-confidence!

  THIRD: It is unnecessary to suggest that you must be honest. Honesty has been talked of incessantly ever since the writing of the Ten Commandments, and long before. There are many false reputations and not a few big fortunes built on DISHONESTY. There are some men poor now who might have been rich if they had been dishonest. But be sure that REAL success comes only to the honest man who thinks and works and TREATS OTHER MEN HONESTLY.

  FOURTH: You must practice Self-Denial.

  SELF-DENIAL is especially a matter of self-education.

  Instead of putting your mind on the question, “How can I amuse myself or dress myself?” say to yourself, “What can I DO WITHOUT?” Self-denial is not important simply because it saves your money – it is especially important because IT SAVES YOUR TIME AND YOUR VITALITY.

  Sobriety is, of course, a part of self-denial. If you don’t smoke excessively, if you don’t drink excessively – you save money and you save vitality. If you don’t pay foolish attention to dress – only neatness and common sense are necessary to success – you save the time and the thought that many men put on worthless worrying about their personal appearance.

  The most important in the line of self-denial, perhaps, is TO MAKE YOURSELF NOT WORRY ABOUT WHAT OTHERS THINK OF YOU. Try to earn the approval of those who are worthwhile, and dismiss from your mind the opinion of the crowd that means nothing to you and can do nothing for you. More men waste time and energy and worry on the opinion of others – more than enough to make them successful if they would be indifferent to worthless public opinion.

  FIFTH: You must use your own will power.

  What you do MUST BE DONE ABSOLUTELY BY THE EXERCISE OF YOUR OWN WILL POWER. IF YOU DECEIVE YOURSELF, AND BLAME OTHERS INSTEAD OF YOURSELF, YOU WILL NEVER GET AHEAD. YOU MUST BE YOUR OWN MOST SEVERE JUDGE. Remember that it is not sufficient to WISH for success or to ADMIRE the qualities that make success; you must develop those qualities, and use them.

  SIXTH: You must be unselfish, if you would have Dame Fortune smile upon you.

  Unselfishness is the greatest, highest quality of all. Any man who would be truly great in his achievements must have for his inspiration an unselfish desire to be of use to other men. He may pile up millions, but he will not be one of the world’s really great men unless guided by the consciousness that a man’s first and last duty is to try to make others better off and happier for his having lived on the earth.

  SEVENTH: You must concentrate in all your efforts – in all your work.

  The necessity of concentration can never be too much insisted upon. All kinds of success in the world depend upon it. Young people who think that genius or luck will carry them through make a terrible mistake. Genius and what is called luck ARE concentration and nothing else.

  What concentration means may be illustrated by examples. When Abraham Lincoln was a boy, he used to listen to the talk of his elders. Out in that new country where he lived, everybody talked politics.

  Young Abraham did not know much about politics then, but he knew that the men who did
know got ahead in the world somehow, and he determined to understand such things for himself.

  Accordingly, he listened intently every time he heard a political discussion. At first he understood very little, but he only listened harder and thought over what he had heard. After a while he began to understand. Then he put his mind so closely to work upon the subjects discussed by the debaters that he was able not only to see what they were driving at, but to improve their methods of explaining their thoughts.

  He saw that a large part of the difficulty that he had experienced in following them arose from the fact that they neither saw clearly what they wished to say, nor expressed it in clear language. He got hold of the general idea of a speaker and went on by himself and labored over it in his own mind, putting it in more expressive words, and reshaping it in a more logical form, until it became as clear as crystal. Finally, he surprised his elders by stating their ideas better than they could state them themselves.

  Now, THAT WAS CONCENTRATION, and Lincoln practiced it until it became the settled habit of his mind. It made him President of the United States and the clear-headed leader of his country in the most threatening crisis that ever passed.

  There was once a little boy in the city of Utrecht, the son of a poor workingman, who was determined to get an education. He showed so much earnestness in his ambition that he attracted the attention of good people who obtained his admittance as a free scholar in the University of Louvain. While the scholars who could pay did what was required of them in a half-hearted way and spent as much time as possible in idle amusements, he was not content with the lessons of the day, but borrowed books to study at night. Because he was too poor to have candles, he spent a part of each night studying his books by the light of street lamps or in illuminated church porches. That, too, was CONCENTRATION, and the young scholar carried it so far that he was made preceptor to the man who was to be the great Emperor Charles V.