Many people with an NNA mentality believe that money is the root of all evil. The Bible says that the love of money is the root of all evil. At first glance the two viewpoints are not far apart, but they are very different.
Napoleon Hill was surprised to note that the book Think Rich has little appeal to people with an NNA (negative mindset), and here's why. It is the idea that money is the root of all evil that occupies their minds, so how can they deliberately pursue something that they can't even avoid?
"Outside the occupation of income-generating techniques" by the author of the American writer Taylor G Hicks pointed out in the book, in several areas, with money will be better off: ① material wealth; ② recreation; ③ education; ④ tourism; ⑤ health care; ⑥ financial backing for retirement; ⑦ friends; ⑧ stronger self-confidence; ⑨ more comfortable to enjoy life; ⑩ more fully demonstrate their own; inspire you to achieve greater results; provide opportunities to engage in public service.
The development of human history shows that: money is very important in any society; money is not unhelpful, it allows people to engage in more meaningful activities; people in the creation of personal wealth at the same time, but also to others and society to make essential contributions.
People's living standards continue to rise with the development of society. In real life, we all recognize that money is not everything, but without money is never OK. Everyone needs to have a certain amount of property: houses, furniture, electrical appliances, clothing and so on, all of these things need to be exchanged for money. And there is no end to people's desire to consume, when you get the long-desired thing, there will be something better to arouse your liking. In our life today, money equals success and money equals the medium, but it can also do bad things. It is through Think Rich that thousands of readers have gone on to become rich, such as:
(1) Henry Ford
(2) William Rigley
(3) John D. Rockefeller
(4) Thomas Alva Edison
(5) Edward Phelan
(6) Julius Fass Rosen Wald
(7) Edward Bok
(8) Andrew Carnegie
All of the above have foundations, and to this day they have more than a billion dollars in them, and they spend more than $200 million a year out of their foundations for charity and religion.
Is money good? We don't think it's bad.
Readers are convinced that Carnegie can share some of his stuff with them, like money, philosophy and beyond. In fact, Hill's success story wouldn't have worked if it weren't for Carnegie.
Let's take a look at Carnegie's experiences, philosophy, and see how he applied his philosophy in his life.
Carnegie - from a poor Scottish immigrant to the richest man in the United States, the bitter experience of which is documented in the Autobiography of Andrew Carnegie.
He worked hard before his death at 83. Throughout his life, his immense wealth has been wisely ****enjoyed with people.
In 1980, the great steel magnate, philosopher and philanthropist gave a three-hour interview to Hill. Carnegie said, "My greatest treasure is not money, but my philosophy. Anything of value is worth the labor we put into it."
Hill now understands that it is easier for a person to succeed when he uses this quote as a watchword for getting ahead. Carnegie's code of life is a worthy lesson for anyone to learn.
Later, encouraged by these words, the most systematic and comprehensive Napoleon Hill Success Principles were created by Hill, including 17 exciting and inspiring laws of success. Many successful people all over the world have learned to succeed from Hill's Successology. Mahatma Gandhi of India appreciated Hill's Success Principles so much that he ordered all the people of the country to learn them, and thus, many more famous and successful people in India have emerged from Hill's Success Principles.
The Hill School of Success also influenced the first president of the Philippines*** and the country, Guisanal, so that he led his country on the road to independence. Other successful applications of Hill's science include Eastman, president of Kodak; Gigli, the king of razor blades; Henry Ford; Rockefeller; and many others.
Two reverence for money is also a noble belief
Napoleon Hill once told us the story of Madden and Prof. Rhine.
1. The story of Madden
Madden, who lost his parents at the age of seven, had to go alone to find a place to live. As a teenager he read Self-Help by Smales, who had the same experience as him, and the author's success inspired Madden's ambition to struggle. Encouraged by this, the disappointing world he saw became a sunny and beautiful one.
Madden opened four hotels before the economic crisis of 1893. He left the four hotels in the hands of others and spent his time writing books. He planned to write a book like Self-Help to encourage the younger generation in America. As he worked tirelessly on his book, fate played a joke on him, but at the same time, it showed his extraordinary courage.
He titled the book "Advancing to the Front," with the motto: You must treat every moment of your daily life as a momentous occasion, for no one can tell when your character will be tested by fate and turn you from one place to another.
Yet it was not long before he was chosen by fate to be placed in another place of importance.
Madden's two inns burned to the ground in the economic horrors of 1893, and even worse, the manuscript of the book he was about to finalize was reduced to nothing in the fire. Suffice it to say, his tangible assets were on the verge of zero.
But Madden looked at his surroundings with PMA (positive mindedness) and wondered what had gone wrong with him and the country. His first conclusion is that terror has caused an economic panic, as in bankruptcy, devaluation of the dollar, and a host of other horrors are the creators of this crisis.
The stock market collapsed as a result. 156 railroads and 567 banks and credit companies closed their doors because of the terror. Millions of people lost their jobs, and with drought-induced agricultural shortfalls, society was in a terrible state.
The ruins on people's minds and the economic losses made Martin realize that he should get his country and its people up out of these shadows. He refused the kind offer of being asked to manage two other inns. His heart was possessed by a noble and proud conviction, which, combined with his positive frame of mind, prompted him to take up another book, with a new motto: "Every occasion is a momentous occasion."
He said, "If there is a moment when America has to have a positive mindset to help it, it is now."
He wrote his books night and day in a modest stable, subsisting on a pitiful $1.50 a week. In 1893, "Advancing to the Front" finally reached readers.
When the book came out, it was a huge hit with readers and became a textbook and supplemental reading in public schools, and was celebrated in various businesses and stores as the best reading to inspire people to adopt a positive mindset. At the same time the book was translated into 25 languages and widely distributed around the world, with a circulation of millions of copies, thus bringing Madden millions of property.
Madden is in agreement with us when it comes to the idea that human qualities are the cornerstone of success. He believes that if your qualities reach true perfection, then you are successful. He doesn't deny the role of money, but is again opposed to money worship. He says, "There is something more important in the world than the pursuit of money, and that is the relentless pursuit of a life of high ideals."
Madden tells us the truth that some people are millionaires economically, but spiritually they have nothing, especially those who throw away their families, honor, and health for the sake of money are complete losers.
He made people understand: it is a normal requirement to honor money, but too much chasing will become a slave of money. People should be neither too greedy nor too stingy.2. The Story of Rhine
Several students at the University of Chicago went to listen to Mr. Doyle's lecture on psychology in a mocking frame of mind. But the seriousness of the speaker struck a chord with Rhine, who listened meticulously. He began to implant some profound ideas in his mind. When Doyle spoke of the relentless search for psychological factors that many reputable people had undertaken, Rhine decided to do some research on the subject.
Dr. Rhine recalled his time listening to Mr. Doyle's lectures, saying, "Much of what was known at that time should, by rights, have been known to me as a student. But it was only after I listened to his lecture that I really realized what I lacked. Issues like how to seek knowledge were things that were not in my education, and I began to notice that the present-day educational system was not perfect."
A new way of seeking knowledge caught his interest. He began to grow dissatisfied with the present system, according to which all truth would become a thousand precepts. He was determined that people should have a scientific understanding of the truth, and he put learning to use the power of the human mind on his agenda.
Previously, Rhine's wish had been to teach at a university for the rest of his life, but at the moment he decided to turn to research in order to realize his new vision. Friends and colleagues discouraged him, saying it would cost him his honor, salary and all. He told his friends, "I don't care to lose anything, as long as it's for my own ideal quest."
His friend replied, "Keep to yourself what you have discovered! No one but you will believe what you have accomplished."
Dr. Rhine struggled with slights, ridicule, and injustice for a full 45 years. These were nothing; what caused him the most headaches was the lack of funding. His only EEG scanner was still sourced from the hospital's discard pile.
To this day, some people have difficulty in their relentless pursuit of truth, and it is fair to say that people like Dr. Rhine can be found in just about any university or college.
Madden's pursuit of money and Rhine's pursuit of truth would be considered different by most people. But Napoleon Hill tells us that it is simply the pursuit of different beliefs, and the difference lies only in the beliefs, nothing more!
Three can bring happiness
Money can be used for both righteousness and crime, the key is how you utilize it, after it is used to satisfy the basic consumption of life, it can also be used for some charitable works.
Thousands of people have been made happy through donations from the Rockefellers.
Many of America's industrial greats died at the turn of the 19th and 20th centuries, and there was naturally great interest in the whereabouts of their vast estates.
Most people assumed that those who inherited would have trouble keeping that fortune and spending it without restraint.
For example, John W. Gates, the steel magnate who won "a million bucks" for his risk-taking in the steel industry, had his vast fortune wiped out in the hands of his son, who was nicknamed "Million Dollar Man".
Naturally, Rockefeller Jr. was also in the spotlight.
The Universalist magazine published this article in 1905, "How Will He Arrange It? It begins:
"The largest estate in the world which Mr. John D. Rockefeller is about to leave has attracted the attention of the world. His son, John Day Rockefeller, Jr. will inherit the fortune in a few years. It is clear that such a large fortune is enough to be able to influence the whole world ...... or, to use it in doing bad things, that would delay the development of world civilization for twenty-five years."
The Reverend Mr. Gates was Rockefeller Sr.'s closest friend, and in Rockefeller Sr.'s later years he continually persuaded him to give his money to some charity. Rockefeller Sr. donated hundreds of millions of dollars of huge sums of money to schools, medical and research institutes and other organizations that formed a huge charitable organization under his advice. Although Rockefeller Sr. made some donations and investments, what attracted him more was how to make money, how to better master and utilize the art of making money, which was the most obsessive motivation and the only one in his life.
In this way, Rockefeller Jr. got and clung to that opportunity.
Rockefeller Jr. recalls:
"Gates acted as a creator and idealist in the meantime, and I was a salesman - the middleman who seized every opportunity to sell to my father."
Rockefeller Jr. took the opportunity when Rockefeller Sr. was in a good mood to make all sorts of proposals, and usually, his father said yes.
Rockefeller Sr. divided a whopping $4,467,193,371 over the course of 12 years among his four major charities: the General Education Council, the Laura Spellman Rockefeller Memorial Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation and the Institute of Medicine.
In these organizations, Rockefeller Jr. then became the specific head.
Rockefeller Jr. was far more than just a lobbyist on the boards of these institutions.
He had to preside over the mapping process while seeking out the right people to manage the institutions.
In 1901, at the invitation of philanthropist Robert Ogden, Rockefeller Jr. and the rest of a group of 50 notables made a historic examination of black schools in the South. Upon returning from his trip to the South, he told his father by postal mail of his proposal to establish a general education board. Two weeks later, his father wired him $10 million dollars, which was followed by $32 million dollars in donations. By 1921, donations had reached a whopping $129 million.
With the divine inspiration and business acumen of a priest, Gates had accurately predicted the Rockefeller Foundation's impending worldwide impact after its inception.
In 1914, against a backdrop of colonial rule and commerce, Gates planned to build a number of hospitals in Beijing, China, of a modern standard.
In this way, the Concordia Medical College and Concordia Hospital were established in Beijing. Rockefeller Jr. called them "first-class hospitals in Asia" and personally attended the inauguration ceremony in Beijing. The Chinese people have benefited from the convenience of these two very well-equipped hospitals.
Rockefeller Jr. was also most interested in the Social Hygiene Department of the charity.
In 1909, prostitution became a major issue in the New York gubernatorial campaign. Rockefeller Jr., known as "Mr. Nice Guy," set out to assemble and serve on a jury tasked with investigating the business of buying and selling prostitutes.
He devoted all his energies to the task he accepted, working around the clock. An exhaustive report of the investigation came out a few months later. In the report it was stated that a special commission should be set up to solve the problem, but it was rejected by the mayor of New York. So Rockefeller Jr. decided to take on the task himself.
He invested more than half a million dollars in 1911 to establish the Department of Social Hygiene.
Sending Flexner to Europe to look at the differences between the prostitution problem in the United States and Europe was the bureau's first step.
Flexner, with the help of a letter of introduction from the U.S. Secretary of Public Works, visited the major cities of Europe and came to the conclusion that one of the possible ways to do this was to take these things underground, which wouldn't eradicate them but would at least have the effect of isolating them.
He argued that if you want to tackle prostitution, you have to understand the legal environment in which it exists.
To prove his point, the bureau sent another cross-country tour of police in Europe.
The conclusions came as a surprise: American police were casual and undisciplined, while European police were meticulous.
The U.S. police system benefited greatly from this investigation, and was then improved and strengthened.
The broad and complex scope of the Rockefeller Foundation's endowment is difficult to calculate. It is remembered as an efficient super-charity for the benefit of mankind.
In reality, Rockefeller made a start in the first half of the century when American health, education and welfare developed in the 20th century.
The Rockefeller Foundation set its sights not only on overcoming world diseases, but also on famine and food problems around the world.
Some outstanding scientists, funded by the Foundation, invented many new corn, rice and wheat, which brought great benefits to some underdeveloped countries.
In science and technology, the world's largest astronomical telescope built in California and the 184-inch cyclotron, which helps split the atom, were accomplished with the support of the Foundation's huge scientific research funds.
The Rockefeller Foundation funds the activities of about 16,000 researchers each year, including many of the world's leading scientists as well.
Rockefeller Jr. ran these charitable organizations while also pursuing the conservation of nature, a lifelong passion of his.
In 1910, he bought a scenic island in Maine with the goal of keeping its natural beauty intact. He financed the construction of roads and bridges while preserving nature and making it easier for visitors. Later, he donated the island, later to be known as Acadia National Park, to the state.
In 1924, while visiting Yellowstone, he noticed that the park's trees were falling to the east and the sides were overgrown with weeds because the government would not pay to clear the roadsides. He immediately contributed $100,000 to clean up and repair the park's dilapidated areas, and 10 years later, the U.S. government added a permanent policy of cleaning up curbs in all national parks.
According to statistics: in order to protect nature, Rockefeller Jr. invested tens of millions of dollars;
Acadia National Park used more than 3 million;
Gave more than 6 million to Fort Trysburg Park in New York City;
Rescued for the State of New York, a cliff in the Hudson River with more than 10 million;
For the State of California's "Coalition to Save Prosperous Fir Forests" in California;
Yosemite National Park received a $1.6 million donation;
Shenandoah National Park received a $164,000 donation.
Jackson's Hole, the famous attraction in the Grand Tetons, was purchased for $17.4 million on more than 33,000 acres of private property, which he later gave to the people in pristine condition.
Restoring and rebuilding an entire colonial city, the Virginia-era capital of Williamsburg, was one of Rockefeller Jr.'s greatest acts of charity.
The slogan "Freedom or Death" was first chanted, and the state capital has been called a "priceless treasure" in American history.
Rockefeller Jr. was personally involved in both the restoration and reconstruction efforts. He said, "No matter how much money, no matter how much effort is spent, the original 18th-century Williamsburg will be presented to the public."
In fact, 81 original colonial buildings were restored and 43 rebuilt, 713 non-colonial buildings were relocated or torn down, 83 acres of lawns and beautiful gardens were re-cultivated, and another 45 new buildings in other styles were built. For this, he spent a total of $52.6 million dollars***.
In 1937, the U.S. government's law imposed a 10 percent estate tax on assets of $5 million or more, and the following year increased the tax on estates of $10 million and above to 20 percent, but despite this, over a period of more than 20 years, Rockefeller Jr. received more than half a billion dollars from his father's estate, which was not much different from the amount Rockefeller Sr. donated to charity. In the end, Rockefeller Sr. kept only $20 million in stock for himself to amuse himself in the stock market.
Rockefeller Jr. inherited this mind-boggling fortune, which he squandered throughout his life. But he never claimed to be the owner of this property, but only as a steward who preferred to live up to his conscience.
Rockefeller Jr. was his father's good assistant for nearly 50 years after he graduated from college. Later, with his passion for philanthropy and generosity of heart, he invested another $822 million in it, just the way he wanted it, for the good of mankind. He said, "The mystery of a healthy life is unselfish giving ...... money can be used to build social life in addition to doing bad things."
The field covered in the philanthropic endeavors and economic foundations he sponsors is vast and far-reaching, and each investment has been carefully considered by him.
"I believe that people have not come to truly appreciate that happiness can only come from a feeling they get from helping others because of the popularity of the idea that you can be happy with money."
That's what Rockefeller Sr. said, but it was his son, Rockefeller Jr. who really did it.
For him, the vocation is an unearned gift.
It could be argued that the Rockefeller family's imprint is found in every newly opened endeavor in American social life in the first 50 years of the 20th century.
Four Makes You More Confident
Having enough bills in your arms, a sizable deposit in the bank, and a large number of hot stocks in the safe can give a person peace of mind. Regardless of the arguments of the naysayers, the fact remains that having a solid foundation of money can make a person feel confident. Think about it, if you have enough money on hand, you can travel the world, you can buy anything for sale.
The truth is that an individual's self-confidence is directly proportional to his money base, and this is what is meant by "being rich". Napoleon Hill said, "Money, as it may be called, is the sixth sense of man, and the other five senses cannot function properly without its cooperation."
The five allow you to express your individual self more fully
Napoleon Hill said, "If you have money in your hand and money in the bank, you feel at ease and you can ignore how others see you. If someone can't accept you, ignore them and you can find new friends elsewhere.
With a few hundred dollars to spend, you don't have to worry about it. Supermarkets and shopping malls give you the freedom to shop around.
The man who is often struggling to make ends meet is the one who is most afraid of understanding his financial income, and this is especially true of the man who has a family. When he spends a few dollars to satisfy one of his hobbies, he develops a heartfelt sense of guilt that the fulfillment of his desires is limited by a lack of money.
If you wish to express yourself and desire freedom, your best motivation is to make money, which is at the same time a powerful source of stimulation. It has been said, "Let the learned scholars say what they will; it is true that money creates talent."