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“A Classic From TheDiamond’s Mine Library”Outwitting TheDevil1938Uncommented original manuscript.Napoleon Hill1http://TheDiamondsMine.com

Outwitting The Devil1938Public Domain NoticeThis classic writing compliments of The Diamond’s Mine Online Library.It is public domain and may be distributed freely.DISCLAIMER AND LEGAL NOTICES:The information presented in this publication represents the perspectiveof the author based on her experiences. As of the date of publication anddue to the rate at which conditions change, the author reserves the right toalter and update her opinion based on the new conditions. The report is forinformational purposes only. While every attempt has been made to verifythe information provided in this report, the author nor her affiliates orpartners assume any responsibility for errors, inaccuracies or omissions. Thispublication is not intended for use as a source of legal or accounting advice.Be aware of any laws which govern business transactions or other businesspractices in your country and state.2http://TheDiamondsMine.com

Table Of ContentsChapter 1: My First Meeting with Andrew Carnegie. 5Begin Life Anew.7Doubt Makes Its Appearance . 11Chance (?) Saves My Life. 12The Most Dramatic Moment of My Life . 14I Receive Strange "Orders" from a Strange Source . 18Chapter 2: A New World Is Revealed to Me .20The Darkest Hour Is Just Before Dawn . 20My "Other Self" Makes Good. 21"Failure": A Blessing in Disguise . 23Faith Has a New Meaning to Me . 24The Value of Giving Before Trying to Get. 25A New Way to Pray . 26Some Signs We Have Overlooked . 27Faith Is the Beginning of All Great Achievement . 27Chapter 3: A Strange Interview with the Devil.30An Analysis . 32Here Begins the Interview with the Devil. 33Chapter 4: Drifting with the Devil .41Chapter 5: The Confession Continues.56Chapter 6: Hypnotic Rhythm.69Chapter 7: Seeds of Fear .81Chapter 8: Definiteness of Purpose .86Chapter 9: Education and Religion .923http://TheDiamondsMine.com

Chapter 10: Self-Discipline. 107Chapter 11: Learning From Adversity. 117Chapter 12: Environment, Time, Harmony and Caution . 128The Secret Chapter: My Invisible Counselors . 147Rebuilding Character Through Auto-Suggestion . 152Also available at The Diamonds Mine: Napoleon Hill's . 157"Think & Grow Rich" - 1937 . 157"Laws Of Success In 16 Lessons" - 1926 . 1574http://TheDiamondsMine.com

Chapter 1: My First Meeting with AndrewCarnegieFOR MORE THAN A QUARTER OF A CENTURY my major purpose has beenthat of isolating and organizing into a philosophy of achievement the causesof both failure and success, with the object of being helpful to others whohave neither the inclination nor the opportunity to engage in this form ofresearch.My labor began in 1908, as the result of an interview that I had with thelate Andrew Carnegie. I frankly told Mr. Carnegie that I wished to enter lawschool and that I had conceived the idea of paying my way through school byinterviewing successful men and women, finding out how they came by theirsuccess, and writing stories of my discoveries for magazines. At the end ofour first visit Mr. Carnegie asked whether or not I possessed enough courageto carry out a suggestion he wished to offer me. I replied that courage wasabout all I did have and that I was prepared to do my best to carry out anysuggestion he cared to offer.He then said, "Your idea of writing stories about men and women whoare successful is commendable, as far as it goes, and I have no intention oftrying to discourage you from carrying out your purpose, but I must tell youthat if you wish to be of enduring service, not only to those now living, but toposterity as well, you can do so if you will take the time to organize all of thecauses of failure as well as all of the causes of success."There are millions of people in the world who have not the slightestconception of the causes of success and failure. The schools and collegesteach practically everything except the principles of individual achievement.They require young men and women to spend from four to eight yearsacquiring abstract knowledge, but do not teach them what to do with thisknowledge after they get it. "The world is in need of a practical,understandable philosophy of achievement, organized from the factualknowledge gained from the experience of men and women in the greatuniversity of life. In the entire field of philosophy I find nothing which evenremotely resembles the sort of philosophy which I have in mind. We have fewphilosophers who are capable of teaching men and women the art of living."It seems to me that here is an opportunity which should challenge anambitious young man of your type; but ambition alone is not enough for this5http://TheDiamondsMine.com

task which I have suggested. The one who undertakes it must have courageand tenacity."The job will require at least twenty years of continuous effort, duringwhich the one who undertakes it will have to earn his living from some othersource, because this sort of research is never profitable at the outset, andgenerally those who have contributed to civilization through work of thisnature have had to wait a hundred years or so after their own funerals toreceive recognition for their labor.""If you undertake this job, you should interview not only the few whohave succeeded, but the many who have failed. You should carefully analyzemany thousands of people who have been classed as 'failures,' and I mean bythe term 'failures,' men and women who come to the closing chapter of lifedisappointed because they did not attain the goal which they had set theirhearts upon achieving. As inconsistent as it may seem, you will learn moreabout how to succeed from the failures than you will from the so-calledsuccesses. They will teach you what not to do."Along toward the end of your labor, if you carry it through successfully,you will make a discovery which may be a great surprise to you. You willdiscover that the cause of success is not something separate and apart fromthe man; that it is a force so intangible in nature that the majority of mennever recognize it; a force which might be properly called the 'other self.'Noteworthy is the fact that this 'other self seldom exerts its influence ormakes itself known excepting at times of unusual emergency, when men areforced, through adversity and temporary defeat, to change their habits and tothink their way out of difficulty."My experience has taught me that a man is never quite so near successas when that which he calls 'failure' has overtaken him, for it is on occasionsof this sort that he is forced to think. If he thinks accurately, and withpersistence, he discovers that so-called failure usually is nothing more than asignal to re-arm himself with a new plan or purpose. Most real failures aredue to limitations which men set up in their own minds. If they had thecourage to go one step further, they would discover their error."6http://TheDiamondsMine.com

Begin Life AnewMr. Carnegie's speech reshaped my entire life and planted in my mind aburning purpose, which has driven me ceaselessly, and this despite the factthat I had but a vague idea as to what he meant by the term "other self."During my labor of research into the causes of failure and success I havehad the privilege of analyzing more than 25,000 men and women who wererated as "failures," and over 500 who were classed as "successful." Many yearsago I caught my first glimpse of that "other self Mr. Carnegie had mentioned.The discovery came, as he said it would, as the result of two major turningpoints of my life, which constituted emergencies that forced me to think myway out of difficulties such as I had never before experienced.I wish it were possible to describe this discovery without the use of thepersonal pronoun, but this is impossible because it came through personalexperiences from which it cannot be separated. To give you the completepicture I shall have to go back to the first of these two major turning-pointsand bring you up to the discovery step by step.The research necessary for the accumulation of the data, from which theseventeen principles of achievement and the thirty major causes of failurewere organized, required years of labor.I had reached the false conclusion that my task of organizing a completephilosophy of personal achievement had been completed. Far from havingbeen completed, my work had merely begun. I had erected the skeleton of aphilosophy by organizing the seventeen principles of achievement and thethirty major causes of failure, but that skeleton had to be covered with theflesh of application and experience. Moreover, it had to be given a soulthrough which it might inspire men and women to meet obstacles withoutgoing down under them.The "soul," which had yet to be added, as I discovered later, becameavailable only after my "other self" made its appearance, through two majorturning-points of my life.Resolving to turn my attention, and whatever talents I might possess,into monetary returns through business and professional channels, I decidedto go into the profession of advertising, and I became the advertisingmanager of the LaSalle Extension University of Chicago. Everything went7http://TheDiamondsMine.com

along beautifully for one year, at the end of which I was seized by a violentdislike for my job and resigned.I then entered the chain store business, with the former president of theLaSalle Extension University, and became the president of the Betsy RossCandy Company. Unfortunate— or what seemed to me at the time to beunfortunate— disagreements with business associates disengaged me fromthat undertaking.The lure of advertising still was in my blood, and I tried again to giveexpression to it by organizing a school of advertising and salesmanship, as apart of Bryant & Stratton Business College.The enterprise was sailing smoothly and we were making money rapidlywhen the United States entered World War I. In response to an inner urgewhich no words can describe, I walked away from the school and entered theservice of the United States government, under President Woodrow Wilson'spersonal direction, leaving a perfectly sound business to disintegrate.On Armistice Day 1918, I began the publication of The Golden Rulemagazine. Despite the fact that I did not have a penny of capital, themagazine grew rapidly and soon gained a nation-wide circulation of nearlyhalf a million, ending its first year's business with a profit of 3,156.Some years later I learned, from an experienced publisher, that no manexperienced in the publication and distribution of national magazines wouldthink of starting such a magazine with less than half a million dollars ofcapital.The Golden Rule magazine and I were destined to part company. Themore we succeeded the more discontented I became, until finally, due to anaccumulation of petty annoyances caused by business associates, I made thema present of the magazine and stepped out. Through that move perhaps Itossed a small fortune over my shoulder.Next I organized a training school for salesmen. My first assignment wasto train a sales army of 3,000 people for a chain store company, for which Ireceived 10 for each salesman who went through my classes. Within sixmonths my work had netted me a little over 30,000. Success, as far asmoney was concerned, was crowning my efforts with abundance. Again Ibecame "fidgety" inside. I was not happy. It became more obvious every daythat no amount of money would ever make me happy.8http://TheDiamondsMine.com