Page 165 - Think & Grow Rich 1937 Edition
P. 165
DECISION 165
55 of prompt DECISION. Those who talk too much do little else. If you talk more
56 than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to
57 accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your PLANS and
58 PURPOSES to people who will take great delight in defeating you, because they
59 envy you.
60 Remember, also, that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a
61 person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person, your
62 exact stock of knowledge, or your LACK of it! Genuine wisdom is usually
63 conspicuous through modesty and silence.
64 Keep in mind the fact that every person with whom you associate is, like
65 yourself, seeking the opportunity to accumulate money. If you talk about your
66 plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn that some other person
67 has beaten you to your goal by PUTTING INTO ACTION AHEAD OF YOU,
68 the plans of which you talked unwisely.
69 Let one of your first decisions be to KEEP A CLOSED MOUTH AND OPEN
70 EARS AND EYES. As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice, it will be
71 helpful if you copy the following epigram in large letters and place it where you
72 will see it daily.
73 "TELL THE WORLD WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO, BUT FIRST SHOW
74 IT."
75 This is the equivalent of saying that "deeds, and not words, are what count
76 most."
FREEDOM OR DEATH ON A DECISION
77 The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. The
78 great decisions, which served as the foundation of civilization, were reached by
79 assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death.
80 Lincoln's decision to issue his famous Proclamation of Emancipation, which
81 gave freedom to the colored people of America, was rendered with full
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
55 of prompt DECISION. Those who talk too much do little else. If you talk more
56 than you listen, you not only deprive yourself of many opportunities to
57 accumulate useful knowledge, but you also disclose your PLANS and
58 PURPOSES to people who will take great delight in defeating you, because they
59 envy you.
60 Remember, also, that every time you open your mouth in the presence of a
61 person who has an abundance of knowledge, you display to that person, your
62 exact stock of knowledge, or your LACK of it! Genuine wisdom is usually
63 conspicuous through modesty and silence.
64 Keep in mind the fact that every person with whom you associate is, like
65 yourself, seeking the opportunity to accumulate money. If you talk about your
66 plans too freely, you may be surprised when you learn that some other person
67 has beaten you to your goal by PUTTING INTO ACTION AHEAD OF YOU,
68 the plans of which you talked unwisely.
69 Let one of your first decisions be to KEEP A CLOSED MOUTH AND OPEN
70 EARS AND EYES. As a reminder to yourself to follow this advice, it will be
71 helpful if you copy the following epigram in large letters and place it where you
72 will see it daily.
73 "TELL THE WORLD WHAT YOU INTEND TO DO, BUT FIRST SHOW
74 IT."
75 This is the equivalent of saying that "deeds, and not words, are what count
76 most."
FREEDOM OR DEATH ON A DECISION
77 The value of decisions depends upon the courage required to render them. The
78 great decisions, which served as the foundation of civilization, were reached by
79 assuming great risks, which often meant the possibility of death.
80 Lincoln's decision to issue his famous Proclamation of Emancipation, which
81 gave freedom to the colored people of America, was rendered with full
Think and Grow Rich by Napoleon Hill
