Thoughts become things

Hill says the book grew from a suggestion by the industrialist Andrew Carnegie that he study successful people and set down the principles behind their achievements. The result is thirteen steps to riches, built on the idea that thoughts, joined to a definite purpose and a burning desire, tend to turn into reality.

He tells the story of Edwin C. Barnes, who was determined to become a business partner of Thomas Edison. Barnes arrived with almost nothing, took a humble job in Edison’s office and waited years for his opportunity, which finally came.