Born in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1885, Robert Collier trained to become a priest early in his life, before settling on a career in business, achieving success in the fields of advertising, publishing, and engineering. After recovering from a chronic illness with the help of mental healing, Collier began studying New Thought, metaphysical, and success principles. He distilled these principles into a popular and influential pamphlet series, The Secret of the Ages, in 1926. He began issuing a second pamphlet series called The Secret of Gold in 1927 and completed it the following year under the title The Life Magnet. He died in 1950.