September 2020 edition of Informed People Magazine

Changing
the world
ONE SPEECH AT A TIME
by J.B. Hill
Napoleon Hill rarely used more than a single page of
notes to deliver his speeches. While many of these
notes still exist, little of what he actually said has
survived. It took me many years to locate one of my
grandfather’s speeches in print. Finding one was more
than just exhilarating to me; it was miraculous.
The document I found was a transcript of a
commencement address that Napoleon gave at Salem
College (now Salem International University) in 1922.
It had been published in a local newspaper under the
title “The End of the Rainbow.” A copy was preserved
on microfilm in the archives of Salem College. When
printed, it required magnification to read, and the text
was so faded that it took more than a day to recover,
which I did by dictating it one word at a time to my
wife.
Napoleon wrote many times that adversity should
be viewed as a blessing in disguise. In the 1922
commencement address, Napoleon shows how his
many business failures were actually turning points
that led him to greater opportunities. Each failure had
therefore been a blessing.
He attributes his success to following failure to the
habit of performing more and better service than he
was being paid for. This trait was the precursor of two
of his principles of success: “Learning from Adversity
and Defeat and Going the Extra Mile.”
Napoleon delivered the 1922 speech in Salem, West
Virginia, not far from his wife. Florence’s family home in
Lumberport. Although he was the editor and publisher
of Napoleon Hill’s Magazine at the time and a success
by every measure, he had much to prove to family. Ten
business failures in a dozen years had soured family
attitudes toward him. So, the commencement address
was Napoleon’s opportunity to be applauded before
his wife’s friends and family, and in this, he succeeded.
His delivery rhythm was mesmerizing to his audience.
He used his personal history of failures to demonstrate
how he was able to overcome adversity. The speech
was touted to be the greatest ever given in that part of
the state. When it ended, amid resounding applause,
Napoleon stood before family, vindicated.
I sent a copy of the speech to Don Green, who is
executive director of the Napoleon Hill foundation. Don
immediately saw the potential for a book and began
searching through the archives of the foundation for
additional material. over several years, he discovered
a few more speeches and a number of articles that he
collated for this book.
One of the articles, “This Changing World,” had
been discovered behind the mantel of a fireplace in
Napoleon’s boyhood home. It was written during the
Great Depression, probably near the end of 1930.
When the Depression struck, Napoleon was living with
family who provided him with secure employment.
However, to him, his acceptance of that security meant
that he had failed. So, in March 1931, Hill did exactly
what he needed to do - and perhaps exactly what
he shouldn’t have done: he quit his job and left for
Washington, DC.
6 Informed People Magazine