Enthusiasm Makes the Difference

Norman Vincent Peale was born in Bowersville, Ohio on May 31, 1898. He received degrees at Ohio Wesleyan University and Boston University School of Theology. He was ordained into the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1922 and served as a pastor in a variety of churches in the eastern United States for the next decade. In 1932, he joined the Dutch Reformed Church and became the pastor of the Marble Collegiate Church, a post he would hold for more than 50 years. During his lifetime, he wrote 46 books including The Art of Living, You Can Win, A Guide for Confident Living, The Power of Positive Thinking, and This Incredible Century. In addition to writing, he gave sermons on both television and radio and published Guideposts, a weekly newsletter. He received Freedom Foundation awards in 1952 and 1955 and the Horatio Alger Award in 1952. For his contributions to the field of theology, President Ronald Reagan awarded Peale the Presidential Medal of Freedom on March 26, 1984. He died from a stroke on December 24, 1993 at the age of 95.