Why I Created a Gender-Neutral Edition of Think and Grow Rich

Is it heresy to update a self-help classic?

“One sound idea is all that one needs to achieve success.” — Napoleon Hill

I strongly believe that just about everyone should read Think and Grow Rich. The “get rich” pitch of the title may put off some prospective readers. But, as you will discover in Napoleon Hill’s opening pages, his book is about more than money getting. It is about putting your ideas into action, concretizing your deepest wishes and principles, and setting your projects to flight. This is true whether you are a student, artist, soldier, teacher, business leader, or activist.

For all that, some are deterred by the book’s occasionally dated language. Contemporary seekers may chafe at the author’s antiquated terms. For this reason, I decided that the time is right for a gender-neutral edition of Hill’s 1937 text.

Written in the age of the Great Depression, Hill’s classic is inevitably marked by references that reflect the social, cultural, and sexual outlook of its age. That language, and its attendant assumptions, can move some to avoid or cast aside this profoundly useful book. Although no alternative text can ever replace Hill’s original — which I’ve treasured for many years — there is, in today’s world, both the room…