Hopefulness
by
Napoleon
Hill
Hope is the raw material
with which you build success. It crystallizes into faith, faith into determination and determination into action. It springs
principally from your imagination, from your dreams of a better world, a better life, a better tomorrow.
On the basis of hope, you will decide upon your definite major goal in
life and translate it into actuality. Years ago, for example, James J. Hill was sitting at a telegraph key sending the message
of a woman to a friend whose husband had been killed in a railroad wreck. The message said "Your grief can be softened
by your hope of meeting your husband in a better world."
The word "hope" stuck in Hill’s mind. He began thinking about the powers and possibilities
of hope. That led him to dream of someday building a new railroad to the West. The dream gradually strengthened into a clear-cut
determination which Hill carried to fruition by building the Great Northern Railway system.
Manuel L. Quezon dared to dream and hope of self-government for his beloved islands,
the Philippines. He even dared to hope that he might some day be president of a free Philippine republic. His hope became
faith - and then action, as he maneuvered to get himself appointed Resident Commissioner of the islands.
For 24 years, he bent every effort toward the day when the territory would
become a separate country. I know, because he was my good friend and he let me advise him frequently on ways to achieve his
political aims. His efforts, as everyone knows, were successful. On the day he was elected President of the new Philippine
republic, Quezon sent me this telegram: "May I thank you from the fullness of my heart for having inspired me to keep
the fires of hope burning in my heart until this glorious day of triumph?"
The lesson for you in Quezon’s story is that you must give your imagination free play
to create hope. Dare to dream big dreams. Fill yourself with faith that nothing is impossible for "whatever the mind
of man can conceive and believe, the mind of man can achieve."
From your hope and faith, decide on a definite major goal. Write it down. Commit it to memory. Make
it the fixed star on which you chart your course to success. Then take action to make it come true.
Every success story with a happy ending starts with the words: "Once
upon a time there was a man who hoped that some day . . . ." Yours must start out the same way.
-Napoleon Hill
Source: Success Unlimited. July, 1961, Vol. VIII, No. 7, pg. 27.
