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If Books Could Kill

Think And Grow Rich

5/21/20261 hr 3 min

Peter and Michael discuss "Think And Grow Rich," the 1937 classic written by a lifelong fraudster who finds his final mark: You.

Where to find us: 

Our PatreonOur merch!Peter's newsletterPeter's other podcast, 5-4Mike's other podcast, Maintenance Phase

Sources:

The Untold Story of Napoleon Hill, the Greatest Self-Help Scammer of All TimeA Lifetime of RichesHow to Lose Friends and Alienate PeopleHow a Different America Responded to the Great DepressionThe Psychic Scandal How Trump Turned The Power of Positive Thinking Into Delusion

Thanks to Mindseye for our theme song!

Clips

Carnegie Meeting Debunked
Secret Equals Shameless Lying
Boner Energy Productivity Hack
Great Depression Vibe Shift
Adding ‘The Secret’ To Physics

Transcript preview

First 90 seconds

  1. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:00

    Yeah, what do you, what do you got? What do you know about this? Do you know anything?

  2. Michael Hobbes· Host0:02

    Nothing. I didn't even know it was one of those, like, old-timey self-help books- Yeah ... until you told me.

  3. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:06

    The one thing to know, uh, i- is this is, like, the, fundamentally it's The Secret.

  4. Michael Hobbes· Host0:11

    He'll be like, "Andrew Carnegie knew the secret." I already know where this is going.

  5. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:14

    Wait.

  6. Michael Hobbes· Host0:15

    Uh- Did you say that?

  7. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:16

    Did I tell you that?

  8. Michael Hobbes· Host0:17

    No, I'm just, like, trying to think of old-timey celebrities that he's gonna use.

  9. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:20

    This whole book is premised on the idea that he had a conversation with Andrew Carnegie that he learned from.

  10. Michael Hobbes· Host0:24

    I literally did not know that.

  11. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:26

    Wow, we're so good at this.

  12. Michael Hobbes· Host0:27

    Fuck.

  13. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:27

    We're so good at this that you actually pulled out the entire conceit of this book from thin air.

  14. Michael Hobbes· Host0:32

    Should I just do the episode, Peter, having- [laughs] Maybe ... not read the book? I'll just improv the whole thing.

  15. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:37

    [laughs] I'll tell you at the end what you got right and what you got wrong.

  16. Michael Hobbes· Host0:39

    [laughs] Who starts?

  17. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:41

    Michael.

  18. Michael Hobbes· Host0:42

    Peter.

  19. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:43

    What do you know about Think and Grow Rich?

  20. Michael Hobbes· Host0:45

    All I know is that I'm nostalgic for a time in America where you had to think to grow rich.

  21. Peter Shamshiri· Host0:49

    [upbeat music] Think and Grow Rich by a man named Napoleon Hill.

  22. Michael Hobbes· Host1:07

    Wait, really?

  23. Peter Shamshiri· Host1:08

    Yeah.

  24. Michael Hobbes· Host1:08

    Okay.

  25. Peter Shamshiri· Host1:08

    [laughs] Oliver Napoleon Hill.

  26. Michael Hobbes· Host1:10

    Okay.

  27. Peter Shamshiri· Host1:10

    This is a book from 1937.

  28. Michael Hobbes· Host1:13

    Powerful name.

  29. Peter Shamshiri· Host1:14

    You could almost say that it contains an ancient wisdom.

  30. Michael Hobbes· Host1:17

    [laughs] A secret, if you will.

  31. Peter Shamshiri· Host1:20

    This book has sold some unbelievable amount of copies.

  32. Michael Hobbes· Host1:24

    Yeah.

  33. Peter Shamshiri· Host1:24

    I've seen estimates that look like 100 million copies. That sounds wrong.

  34. Michael Hobbes· Host1:28

    Yeah, that's probably not true, but- But I've just heard

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