Robert Collier (1885–1950) was an American New Thought author and one of the most influential self-help writers of the early twentieth century. Born in St. Louis, Missouri, he came from a distinguished publishing family — his uncle Peter Fenelon Collier founded Collier's Weekly, the renowned national magazine. After beginning his career as an advertising copywriter and eventually running his own agency, Collier turned his keen understanding of persuasion and the human mind toward writing books that would shape generations of success literature.
His landmark work, The Secret of the Ages (1926), synthesized New Thought philosophy with practical psychology, teaching readers how to harness desire, faith, visualization, and confident action to achieve their goals. The book sold over 300,000 copies during Collier's lifetime and remains in print to this day. In 1931 he also published The Robert Collier Letter Book, which became a foundational text in direct-response marketing and copywriting — a testament to his rare ability to bridge metaphysical insight with real-world application. To deepen his reach, he launched a monthly publication called Mind, Inc. in 1929, offering ongoing guidance on the principles he taught.
Collier's work experienced a powerful renaissance in 2006 when The Secret — the global phenomenon film and book — cited his ideas as a cornerstone of the law of attraction movement. Nightingale-Conant carries on his legacy as part of its tradition of preserving the greatest voices in personal development, making Collier's timeless principles of abundance and self-mastery available to a new generation of listeners seeking lasting change.
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