Book SummaryOutwitting the Devil, by Napoleon Hill

1-Page Summary1-Page Book Summary of Outwitting the Devil

Outwitting the Devil is a self-help book that describes how you can resist the Devil’s influence and find personal and financial success in life by choosing clear goals, pursuing them single-mindedly, and surrounding yourself with positive influences. Businessman and author Napoleon Hill emphasizes the law of attraction and the power of positive thinking as the primary tools that will keep you from drifting aimlessly through life or spiraling into failure.

Writing shortly after the Great Depression and on the cusp of World War II, Hill discusses how you can find success even in unfavorable circumstances. He himself spent much of the previous two decades moving from one failed venture to another, only achieving happiness and wealth when he decided to pursue his true calling of teaching and writing, beginning with his 1937 bestseller Think and Grow Rich. This taught him that if you refuse to accept failure, no matter how many times it comes, you can overcome any obstacle. Outwitting the Devil aims to help readers do the same.

Think and Grow Rich examined the lives of hundreds of American businessmen and concluded that persistence and positive thinking were key to success. While Outwitting the Devil repeats these points, it takes a closer look at failure and considers how negative influences keep people from reaching their fullest potential, through an explicitly religious lens. Hill structures the book as a conversation—arguably more of an interrogation—between a version of himself, called Mr. Earthbound, and the Devil, who insists on being called “Your Majesty.”

This approach is the most controversial aspect of the book, since it seems to convey respect and involves more direct engagement with the Devil than some Christians, like...

Outwitting the Devil Summary Shortform Commentary: The New Thought Movement

Many of Hill’s ideas overlap with the teachings of the New Thought movement, a 19th-century spiritual movement that grew out of metaphysics and the practices of hypnotists and “mental healers” like movement founder Phineas Quimby. The core beliefs of the movement were that the mind was in control of the body, that illness was an outgrowth of negative or “false” thinking, and that any sickness could be healed through faith and positive thinking.

Around the turn of the century, the movement’s focus shifted away from healing and towards personal and financial success. New Thought thinkers taught that God rewarded the faithful and that strong belief, rather than government oversight, was the key to lifting people out of poverty. It’s this aspect of the movement that remains most influential today.

Though Hill never publicly identified as a follower of the New Thought movement, its influence can be seen throughout all his works. Hill’s theories about faith, positive...

Outwitting the Devil Summary The Devil’s Nature

The three main characteristics of the Devil as Hill describes him are:

1. He doesn’t have a physical form but exists as negative energy and negative thoughts.
2. He’s an essential part of the universe, and can’t be truly defeated; while God represents all that is positive in nature, the Devil represents all that is negative, and just as day can’t exist without night, life can’t exist without both God and the Devil locked in a constant struggle.
3. He does not torture people in Hell after death, but instead attempts to gain control of them throughout their lives, and, if he succeeds, absorbs them into himself after death.

Hill argues that the primary threat the Devil poses to you is not after death, but in the course of your life, and so you must commit to resisting him each and every day. While the Devil cannot be permanently defeated, he can be avoided by someone who is strong of character and who commits to practicing Hill’s principles for success.

Different Visions of the Devil

The Devil, or Satan, has been imagined in radically different ways throughout history. At...

Outwitting the Devil Summary Indifferent People Versus Independent Thinkers

Hill writes that the Devil distinguishes between two types of people: those under his control, whom he claims make up nearly 98% of all people on Earth; and those who have escaped his influence. What separates these two groups is that those under his influence take a fundamentally passive role in their own lives, while those who have resisted take a more active role. Much of Hill’s advice to the reader encourages them to take on a more active role, taking control of what happens to them out of the Devil’s hands and into their own.

Indifference

Hill describes those under the Devil’s control as “drifting” through life, suffering from something that we’ll call indifference. Someone suffering from indifference has no goals, no motivation, and no self-control. They fall easily into bad habits and failure, and they’ll never achieve true happiness or success. They’re always procrastinating, never proactive, and they avoid taking responsibility for their own actions. Above all, Hill says, they’re bound to be manipulated by people with stronger personalities, and the circumstances of their lives are ultimately controlled by the Devil.

The primary characteristics...

Outwitting the Devil Summary How Patterns of Behavior Drive Us

Any indifferent person can become an independent thinker, but the longer you’ve been caught in the cycle of indifference, the harder it will be to break your old patterns and commit to the hard work that success requires. The same actions, beliefs, and thoughts, repeated over and over, become a kind of rhythm or pattern that, like a current, is easier to flow with than to swim out of.

This is what Hill calls a pattern of behavior. Nature is given to cycles or patterns, with the same processes repeating every season, every day, or every second. Humans are aspects of nature and therefore subject to the same laws. That said, he stresses that if you recognize that you’re caught in this pattern of indifferent behavior, you can break yourself out of it, and you can even turn this aspect of nature to your advantage by establishing a new pattern.

Hill argues that positive actions or thoughts, repeated over and over, will become easier and easier, and will attract greater rewards. While there is always a risk of slipping back into old habits, a long-term commitment to independent thought and pursuing your goals will strengthen you against the Devil’s influence.

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Outwitting the Devil Summary The Law of Attraction

The law of attraction proposes that thinking positive thoughts will attract success, while thinking negative thoughts will lead to failure. It suggests that “like attracts like,” and so the first step towards achieving success is to believe that success will come.

Hill does not go so far as to say that all failure is the result of negative thinking—he acknowledges that people are born into very different circumstances, and with various social advantages or disadvantages. However, he still insists that there is no such thing as luck, and that if you have a clear goal you’re determined to achieve, you fully believe that you’re capable of achieving it, and you insist on thinking positively about what you’re doing, you will eventually find success.

Hill also argues that the law of attraction can act as a guide in prayer. He believes that anyone who prays while doubting that their prayer will be answered has guaranteed that that’s exactly what will happen. Absolute faith in both yourself and in a higher power is necessary for prayers to be effective. You should also pray...

Outwitting the Devil Summary How to Escape the Devil’s Influence

Having explained how your success or failure is determined by the patterns of behavior that you’ve fallen into, as well as the significance of the law of attraction, Hill now names the six things a person needs to do in order to escape the Devil’s influence and live a successful life. We’ll explore each one in detail:

1. Have clear purpose and conviction
2. Practice self-control
3. Don’t let failure defeat you
4. Choose your relationships and environments carefully
5. Pursue wisdom
6. Practice caution and forethought

Have Clear Purpose and Conviction

Hill argues that you can’t break yourself out of unhealthy habits or an indifferent pattern of behavior unless you have a clear goal that you’re working towards. Without knowing what you want and having a plan to achieve it, you’re likely to drift through life, allowing your circumstances to shape you rather than you shaping your circumstances.

Hill sets no limits on what your goal may be, and in his own case, his goal was not a business but his desire to write self-help books and to teach others to find success, to the point that he abandoned several other business ventures to pursue his goal. Without a clear purpose, he...

Shortform Exercise: Reframe Failure

As Hill tells us, everyone experiences failure. What separates a successful person from an unsuccessful person is their ability to take that failure in stride, and apply the lessons learned from it towards achieving their goals.

Think back to a failure you’ve experienced in your life—a failed assignment, a missed job opportunity, a personal falling out, a lost game, etc. What happened? How did you feel? How did you choose to respond?