Outwitting the Devil by Napoleon Hill Book Review

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     Outwitting the Devil is a fascinating book written by Napoleon Hill. Hill is also the author of the inspirational classic, Think and Grow Rich. One interesting fact about this book was that it wasn’t published until many years after the time of his death in 1970. It was carefully edited and added to with thoughts by Sharon Lechter. The book was finally published in 2011 at the requests of both Hill’s wife, Annie Lou; and the president of the Napoleon Hill Foundation, Dr. Charlie Johnson’s wife, Frankie: who did not want the book published while they were still alive because of the role of the Devil (Lechter, n. pag.). This book is a must read for anyone who is aiming to better him or herself, because it sheds light on the many ways our minds fall into bad habits so that we may be more conscious of the way we think and behave.
     The first part of the book is a very interesting background of the circumstances leading to Hill’s discovery of his “other self.” Every person has within him two “entities”: One that operates on the emotion of faith and the other that operates on the emotion of fear. For the previous year, Hill had been possessed by the entity that operated on fear (27). If we are not conscious of our thoughts, we will be susceptible to be overtaken by that entity which is motivated by fear. The “other self,” is the entity that is motivated by faith, and is the one we want to listen to in order to be successful and have a meaningful life.
     The great psychologist, Carl Jung, wrote, “No tree, it is said, can grow to heaven unless its roots reach down to hell” (qtd. in Peterson). And that is exactly the type of circumstance which is described in the first part of this book. The anxiety, fear, and shame that Mr. Hill experienced before writing this book is an indicator of the profoundness of the information therein contained: Hill went to Hell and back to realize the message of this book.
     After the horrible experience Hill struggled through, he was powerful enough to have an interview with the “Devil.” The elephant in the room is addressed within the book as to if he believes he was actually having a conversation with the Devil of religious texts, or if it was understood that the interview was a deep meditative conversation he was having in his mind, with himself—where part of himself was merely playing devil’s advocate. If you’ve read, Think and Grow Rich, you may remember that Hill used to have imaginary council meetings with his heros: Emerson, Paine, Edison, Darwin, Lincoln, Burbank, Napoleon, Ford, and Carnegie (Lechter, n. pag.). Nonetheless, the interview pulled out from the depths of somewhere, enlightening insights as to the ways our minds are deceived into a habit known as “drifting.” For the remainder of this essay, when I mention “the Devil,” I am merely using Hill’s terminology, not asserting an opinion or belief of the existence or reality of the Devil of religious texts.
     Drifting is not having a definite purpose in life. It is having wishes instead of goals. It's being lazy and having no self control. It happens because of ignorance and neglect of how our thoughts and nature work. The Devil’s response to Hill’s question about the definition of a drifter is: “Those who do little or no thinking for themselves are drifters. A drifter is one who permits himself to be influenced and controlled by circumstances outside of his own mind” (73). They become caught up in “the whirlpool of hypnotic rhythm” (128) and get carried away into unpleasant places, because they allow themselves to drift: instead of taking the oars of their own lives and rowing towards places of their own choosing, where they can lead meaningful and productive lives. The “Drifters” are part of the ninety-eight percent of the population whose lives are, unbeknownst to them, being swept away in the current of hypnotic rhythm to negative places, because they habitually take the bait the Devil dangles in front of them into thinking and behaving in self destructive manners (138).        
     The meat of this book is basically a confession by the Devil who is compelled by Hill to divulge, not only his methods of gaining control over people’s lives so we can be conscious of how we are living our daily lives, but the fact that we can block him out with “definiteness of purpose” (149). Every question Hill asks of the Devil, whom is referred to as “Your Majesty,” to the annoyance, I imagine, of any reader sensitive to that kind of thing, must be answered truthfully (58). The idea that this information will weaken the Devil’s grip on mankind lends itself to some comical incidental dialogues between the author and his guest throughout the interview. Regardless what is believed by anyone of the literalness of the interview, in my estimation, the information contained therein is of solid truths.
     There is a lot of information in this book, but some major concepts I’d like to highlight are the concepts of drifting, definiteness of purpose, and hypnotic rhythm. In order to outwit the Devil we must always, for the rest of our lives, be on our purpose, think for ourselves, and be vigilant of our thoughts and behaviors. We must recognize thought patterns and temptations that arise within us that are destructive to our well-being and lead to drifting: The Devil is always lurking.
     In the shadows of our minds, the empty space is filled with negative energy: This is what the Devil is--negative energy (59). He occupies the empty space and sows seeds of negative thought in the mind. One of his favorite “tricks” is planting the seed of fear in the minds of people (59-60). This is why we must remain vigilant and explore the darkness of our psyche, like the roots of a tree branching out and exploring the dark underground, so that we may also reach heaven. Wherever there is light, darkness cannot exist (Holy Bible. Jhn. 1.5). The act of confronting the darkness is shedding light into the darkness, because we are the light of God (Eph. 5.8) and the Devil cannot exist in our presence; He is vanquished (Jm. 4.7).

Fig. 1 Illustration from Paradise Lost, artist: Gustave Dore. Public domain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

     The question is: How do we confront the darkness of our minds so that we may become “enlightened”? The answer is: By having a definiteness of purpose, so that we may try and fail. Where we fail is a mark of a limitation in our minds (5). That limitation is the border of light and darkness. Cross that barrier and you become better. As Franklin D. Roosevelt famously said, “The only thing we have to fear...is fear itself” (First inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt). Definiteness of purpose is a meaningful goal that we try to achieve by thinking of plans to achieve it and then acting them out. Where we fail, we learn, and try again. This closes the door of our minds to the Devil, unless he can induce us to drift away from our purpose (149). 
     Hill gives us a detailed illustration of the cunning methods the Devil constantly employs to get us to drift, which often starts even before we are born. He corrupted our parents and previous generations so that most of us were brought up by drifters who taught us bad habits, such as fear--especially of him (79). Sometimes he even influences our heredity (73-74). Once the Devil induces us to drift, the longer we sustain that habit, the harder it is to break. Nature’s resistance to the changing of a crystalized habit is a law known as “hypnotic rhythm” (120).
     Hypnotic rhythm works both ways; It works for negative habits as well as positive habits (131-132). It is neither good or bad--it just is—much like other natural laws, such as gravity. The thing is: it requires no effort to be a drifter (one caught in the downward spiral of hypnotic rhythm), because the Devil is constantly at work tempting our human nature. It’s easy not to think for ourselves and to give into immediate gratification at the expense of our future. But it requires thought and effort to accomplish meaningful goals and be able to control oneself so that we may delay gratification through sacrifice and have a better tomorrow (Peterson 51). Once you discover how hypnotic rhythm works, you may find it to be a good thing that can work in your favor; because it makes it easier to get better at life as your good habits become crystallized over time—it propels you upwards.
     This book has influenced my life greatly since reading it. I plan on reading it many times throughout my life, because there is so much information and concepts, that it’s worth it to explore how they will relate to my changing life situations as time goes on. I highly recommend this book to anyone who wants the best for their life; the insights it gives you are priceless!  

Works Cited

"File:Paradise Lost 12.jpg." Wikimedia Commons, the free media                 repository. 30 Jan 2018.commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.phptitle=
     File:Paradise_Lost_12.jpg&oldid=284210734 
Hill, Napoleon. Outwitting the Devil. Edited by Sharon Lechter. New           York: Sterling, 2011.
Holy Bible. King James Version, Royal Publishers, 1971.
Peterson, Jordan B. 12 Rules for Life. Random House Canada, 2018.
Wikipedia contributors. "First Inauguration of Franklin D. Roosevelt."         Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free                             Encyclopedia, 9 Nov. 2018. Web.