Napoleon Hill was and is an American treasure. He was a confidant of presidents and statesmen. The prominent men of several generations freely revealed their secrets of success to him. But he never forgot his humble origins. He considered it his sacred obligation to share with the world the knowledge about personal achievement that he had accumulated during his rich and varied life.

I shall be eternally grateful that I was privileged to know well this great man, and I hope that through . . . this biography, you too can come to know the man who helped millions of ordinary people discover the greatness within themselves.

—Michael J. Ritt, Jr.