Napoleon Hill - Biography Napoleon Hill Born: October 26, 1883 Died: November 8, 1970 Occupation: Author, Self-help advocate Notable Works: Think and Grow Rich , The Law of Success Early Life Napoleon Hill was born on October 26, 1883, in a small town in Virginia, USA. He was the son of a farmer and a schoolteacher. Hill's childhood was marked by hardship, particularly after the death of his mother when he was just 10 years old. This event forced him to take on various jobs to support himself, including working as a laborer and a newspaper boy. Career Beginnings At the age of 13, Hill began working as a reporter for a local newspaper, where he developed his writing skills. His work eventually led him to meet Andrew Carnegie, the wealthy industrialist, in 1908. Carnegie inspired Hill to interview successful individuals to discover a simple formula for success, lead...
Joseph Denis Murphy (May 20, 1898 – December 16, 1981) was an American writer and New Thought minister, ordained in Divine Science and Religious Science. Joseph Murphy Early life Joseph Denis Murphy was born in Ballydehob, County Cork, Ireland, the son of a private boys' school headmaster and raised a Roman Catholic. He joined the Jesuits. Murphy was enrolled in the National School and was encouraged to study for the priesthood and was accepted as a Jesuit seminarian. However, by the time he reached his late teen years, he began to question the Catholic orthodoxy of the Jesuits, and he withdrew from the seminary. His goal was to explore new ideas and gain new experiences—a goal he could not pursue in Catholic-dominated Ireland—he left his family to go to America. In his twenties, before being ordained a priest, an experience with healing prayer led him to leave the Jesuits and emigrate to the United States in 1922. He journeyed as a steerage passenger on board the RMS Cedric, sa...