Outwitting The Devil: The Secret to Freedom and Success by Napoleon Hill (Summary)

Man this book is intense. Like Conversations with God but with the other one. Big up Simon Bowen for the recommendation. Some of the stuff is just basic science, psychology or doctrine.

Notes:
– The book only published after him and wife died. 70 years + Remember he wrote this ages back to this convo was far ahead of its time.
– He gets people through these 9 doors of habit – fear, superstition, avarice, greed, lust, revenge, anger, vanity, and plain laziness.
– Devil only loses to 2 people in every hundred. Fear entity and faith entity.
– Law of Compensation, Ralph Waldo Emerson – Do more, get more.
– Devil likes to be called your majesty.
– Smoking reduces resistance and persistence.
– Plans for world domination through mass fear.
– 2 secret principles he uses are habit and heredity.
– Drifters – Folks that don’t think for themselves aka sheeple let the devil think for them.
– Gets into flattery, propaganda, how he bribes and teases people with what they love.
– Gets deep into something called hypnotic rhythm that even nature and all have. In a bastardised nutshell I’ll call it life cycle.
– Techniques to break habits and hypnotic rhythm/impressions/grooves.

– 7 principles to spiritual, mental, physical freedom.
1. Definiteness of purpose.
2. Mastery over self.
3. Learning from adversity.
4. Controlling environmental influence (associations).
S. Time (giving permanency to positive, rather than negative thought-habits and developing wisdom).
6. Harmony (acting with definiteness of purpose to become the dominating influence in your own mental, spiritual, and physical environment).
7. Caution (thinking through your plan before you act).

– Children are taught to memorise in school and not learn important things. Cram their memories with facts but not learn about handling money, emotions, etc.
– Keep intestines clean. Enema and headaches.
– Adversity is good as long as you see failure as temporary failure.
– Like minds, company you keep, master mind group, finding the right partner how has the same life motives.

– 10 most common motives/desires.
1. The desire for sex expression and love.
2. The desire for physical food.
3. The desire for spiritual, mental, and physical self-expression.
4. The desire for perpetuation of life after death.
5. The desire for power over others.
6. The desire for material wealth.
7. The desire for knowledge.
8. The desire to imitate others.
9. The desire to excel others.
10. The seven basic fears.

– People are not born with wisdom. It comes with time. Usually after 40 and to those ready for it.
– Non drifters only making friends and associates if they are of some use or share the same goals

Contents
Note to Readers by Sharon Lechter
Foreword by Mark Victor Hansen

Chapter 1 My First Meeting with Andrew Carnegie
Chapter 2 A New World Is Revealed to Me
Chapter 3 A Strange Interview with the Devil
Chapter 4 Drifting with the Devil
Chapter 5 The Confession Continues
Chapter 6 Hypnotic Rhythm
Chapter 7 Seeds of Fear
Chapter 8 Definiteness of Purpose
Chapter 9 Education and Religion
Chapter 10 Self-Discipline
Chapter 11 Learning from Adversity
Chapter 12 Environment, Time, Harmony, and Caution

Summary
Afterword by Michael Bernard Beckwith
In Reflection by Sharon Lechter