Earl Nightingale

Ranked #5,128 in Culture & Society, #110,632 overall

Personal Development Industry Pioneer

With this revelation Earl Nightingale wrote and recorded a message called The Strangest Secret, and with it pioneered the personal development industry. Earl Nightingale's radio show, Our Changing World, was the most highly syndicated radio program of it's time, spanning more than 40 years.

Earl Nightingale Biography

(1921-1989)

Earl Nightingale, enjoyed a remarkable radio career that lasted for more than forty years, but is probably best remembered for the recording that he wrote and narrated in 1956, called, The Strangest Secret. In his profound message he tells us that, "we become what we think about", and then, he spent the rest of his life, giving us examples of how this is true, and how to use this universal law to direct our lives in the most productive ways we can.

Earl, was born in Los Angeles, California in 1921. By 1933, his father had left him, his mother and two brothers. It was the bottom of the Great Depression and millions were unemployed. Earl's mother worked at the WPA in a sewing factory to provide for her three boys. They lived in Tent City, behind the old Mariner Apartments on the waterfront in Long Beach, California, and while being poor didn't seem to bother most of the other kids, it bothered Earl, and he wanted to know why they were so poor, while others, he observed, appeared to be so rich. Why some people were so miserable, while others, so happy. Simply, what made people turn out the way they do. At that time, no one that Earl asked seemed to have an answer to his questions. Not his mom or any of the other adults in his neighborhood.

From the time he was a young boy, he would frequent the Long Beach Public Library in California, searching for the answer to the question, How can a person, starting from scratch, who has no particular advantage in the world, reach the goals that he feels are important to him, and in so doing, make a major contribution to others? His desire to find an answer, coupled with his natural curiosity about the world and its workings spurred him to become one of the world's foremost experts on success and what makes people successful. Earl began a literary search that would stretch over the next twenty years - a search that would lead him to study the world's great religions, philosophy and psychology.
His early career began when at age 17 he decided to join the US Marines. As a member of the Marine Corps, he volunteered to work at a local radio station as an announcer. The Marines also gave him a chance to travel, although he only got as far as Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor in 1941. He was in his station, the morning of the attack on Pearl Harbor and was one of twelve surviving Marines on board the battleship Arizona that day.

After five more years in the service, Earl and his wife moved first to Phoenix then Chicago to build what was to be a very fruitful career in network radio. As the host of his own daily commentary program on WGN, Earl arranged a deal that also gave him a commission on his own advertising sales. By 1957, he was so successful, he decided to retire at the age of 35.

In the meantime, he had bought his own insurance company and had spent many hours motivating its sales force to greater accomplishments. When he decided to go on a vacation for an extended period of time, his sales manager begged him to put his inspirational words on record. The result later became the recording entitled "The Strangest Secret," the first spoken word message to win a Gold Record by selling over a million copies. In "The Strangest Secret," Earl had found an answer to the question that had inspired him as a youth and, in turn, found a way to leave a lasting legacy for others.

Over the next thirteen years, the demand for "The Strangest Secret" would grow so large that Earl accepted an offer of help to fulfill orders from an acquaintance, Lloyd Conant, who had a small mail order company. Together, they formed the Nightingale-Conant Corporation of Chicago and became the founding pioneers and world leaders in the personal development industry. They also developed a syndicated, 5-minute daily radio program, "Our Changing World," which became the longest-running, most widely syndicated show in radio.

When Earl Nightingale died on March 28, 1989, Paul Harvey broke the news to the country on his radio program with the words, "The sonorous voice of the nightingale was stilled." In the words of his good friend and commercial announcer, Steve King, "Earl Nightingale never let a day go by that he didn't learn something new and, in turn, pass it on to others. It was his consuming passion."

At the time of his death, Earl Nightingale's multitude of recorded messages were played around the world, inspiring people from all cultures, nationalities and races, to live their lives to their fullest.

Today, Earl Nightingale is remembered as one of the greatest philosophers of his time, and his best selling programs and books continue to sell daily, and inspire new generations around the world, to reach their highest potential.

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The Strangest Secret - Single CD, Digitally Re-mastered, 2000 by Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret - Single CD, Digitally Re-mastered, 2000 by Earl Nightingale

1956 Gold Record Recording of: The Strangest Secre more...1 point

The Strangest Secret - Book and CD Set (How To Live The Life You Desire) by Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret - Book and CD Set (How To Live The Life You Desire) by Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret - Book and CD Set - This book more...0 points

The Essence of Success 10 Volumes (10 volumes) by Earl Nightingale

The Essence of Success 10 Volumes (10 volumes) by Earl Nightingale

Drawing upon a total of more than 700 hours of recordings, more...0 points

The Essence of Success: The Earl Nightingale Library

The Essence of Success: The Earl Nightingale Library

Twenty Compact Discs in Ten Separate Volumes of Two more...0 points

The Strangest Secret For Succeeding In The World Today, By Earl Nightingale, 6 Audio Cassettes by Earl Nightingale

The Strangest Secret For Succeeding In The World Today, By Earl Nightingale, 6 Audio Cassettes by Earl Nightingale

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Reader Feedback

  • Oct 7, 2010 @ 10:51 am | delete
    This guy is a legend. I will like to follow his paths just as I like to get Generic Viagra on the Internet. Thanks for sharing this interesting lens with us. Viagra Online Buy Viagra
  • anthropos Jan 17, 2009 @ 8:45 pm | delete
    I heard numerous programs of Earl Nightingale and was quite a fan of his. I became influenced by his "strangest secret" recording and it has influenced my life even until today. 5 *'s from me.
  • rydigga Jan 14, 2009 @ 12:50 am | delete
    Hi, Awesome lens. Nightingale was the original and spawned one of my faves, Bob Proctor. His CD's play pretty much the whole day in my household. 5*

    Ryan
  • BartonMurray Dec 10, 2008 @ 1:31 pm | in reply to allinfoisfree | delete
    thanks...
  • allinfoisfree Dec 9, 2008 @ 11:08 pm | delete
    Earl Nightingale is definitely someone we could emulate for self growth, etc.. Thanks for the lens! 5 *'s.
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