the three sources of knowledge
In his book Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill explains that power is essential both for the accumulation of money as well as for the retention of money after it has been accumulated. If you don’t have sufficient power, you can never translate your plans into action. Hill defines this power as “organized and intelligently directed knowledge,” and lists three sources of knowledge in the book.
- Infinite Intelligence: You can tap into this source of knowledge with the aid of Creative Imagination. Albert Einstein once said, “Imagination is more important than knowledge. Knowledge is limited. Imagination encircles the world.” The faculty of creative imagination is the direct link between the finite mind of man and Infinite Intelligence. In other words, creative imagination helps us get in touch with the divinity within and around us. This is the form of imagination in which impressions and inspiration take place, and it works only when our mind vibrates at a higher rhythm and frequency. It is the faculty through which “hunches” and “inspirations” are received. And it is by this form of imagination that all basic or new ideas are handed over to an individual. Only a small percentage of the population uses the faculty of creative imagination deliberately and with purpose, and those who employ it with thorough understanding become pioneers and great leaders in their respective fields.
- Accumulated experience: Any well-equipped public library will have the accumulated experience of man (or at least that fraction of it that has been arranged and recorded). A significant portion of this collected knowledge is taught in public schools and universities, where it has been classified and organized.
- Experiment and research: Men and women gather, classify, and organize new data on a daily basis in science, as well as almost every other subject. When information is not available from “accumulated experience,” one must resort to this source. The employment of Creative Imagination is required here as well.
Any of the aforementioned sources can be used to gain knowledge. It can be transformed into power by organizing it into clear plans and articulating those ideas in terms of concrete actions.
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