Page 29 - Napoleon Hill Think and Grow Rich Full Book | Success Learned

these experiences have tempered the spiritual metal of which you are made-they
are assets of incomparable value.

Remember, too, that all who succeed in life get off to a bad start, and pass through
many heartbreaking struggles before they "arrive." The turning point in the lives
of those who succeed, usually comes at the moment of some crisis, through which
they are introduced to their "other selves."

John Bunyan wrote the Pilgrim's Progress, which is among the finest of all Eng-
lish literature, after he had been confined in prison and sorely punished, because
of his views on the subject of religion.

o. Henry discovered the genius which slept within his brain, after he had met
with great misfortune, and was confined in a prison cell, in Columbus, Ohio. Be-
ing FORCED, through misfortune, to become acquainted with his "other self,"
and to use his IMAGINATION, he discovered himself to be a great author instead
of a miserable criminal and outcast. Strange and varied are the ways of life, and
stranger still are the ways of Infinite Intelligence, through which men are some-
times forced to undergo all sorts of punishment before discovering their own
brains, and their own capacity to create useful ideas through imagination.

Edison, the world's greatest inventor and scientist, was a "tramp" telegraph op-
erator, he failed innumerable times before he was driven, finally, to the discovery
of the genius which slept within his brain.

Charles Dickens began by pasting labels on blacking pots. The tragedy of his first
love penetrated the depths of his soul, and converted him into one of the world's
truly great authors. That tragedy produced, first, David Copperfield, then a suc-
cession of other works that made this a richer and better world for all who read his
books. Disappointment over love affairs, generally has the effect of driving men
to drink, and women to ruin; and this, because most people never learn the art of
transmuting their strongest emotions into dreams of a constructive nature.

Helen Keller became deaf, dumb, and blind shortly after birth. Despite her great-
est misfortune, she has written her name indelibly in the pages of the history of

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NAPOLEON HILL THINK AND GROW RICH

the great. Her entire life has served as evidence that no one ever is defeated until
defeat has been accepted as a reality.

Robert Burns was an illiterate country lad, he was cursed by poverty, and grew up
to be a drunkard in the bargain. The world was made better for his having lived,
because he clothed beautiful thoughts in poetry, and thereby plucked a thorn and