Samuel Smiles

“Might I give counsel to any young man, I would say to him, try to frequent the company of your betters. In books and in life, that is the most…

THIS is a revised edition of a book which has already been received with considerable favour at home and abroad. It has been reprinted in various…

In one respect the title of the book, which it is now too late to alter, has proved unfortunate, as it has led some, who have judged it merely by the…

It has also been objected to the book that too much notice is taken in it of men who have succeeded in life by helping themselves, and too little…

The object of the book briefly is, to re-inculcate these old-fashioned but wholesome lessons—which perhaps cannot be too often urged,—that youth must…

Among the new passages introduced in the present edition, may be mentioned the following:—Illustrious Foreigners of humble origin (pp. 10–12), French…

Two or three young men of the humblest rank resolved to meet in the winter evenings, for the purpose of improving themselves by exchanging…

There was nothing in the slightest degree new or original in this counsel, which was as old as the Proverbs of Solomon, and possibly quite as…

SELF-HELP—NATIONAL AND INDIVIDUAL. Spirit of Self-Help—Institutions and men—Government a Page reflex of the individualism of a nation—Cæsarism and 1–…

LEADERS OF INDUSTRY—INVENTORS AND PRODUCERS. Industry of the English people—Work the best 27–66 educator—Hugh Miller—Poverty and toil not…

THREE GREAT POTTERS—PALLISSY, BÖTTGHER, WEDGWOOD. Ancient pottery—Etruscan ware—Luca della Robbia, the 67–93 Florentine sculptor: re-discovers the…

APPLICATION AND PERSEVERANCE. Great results attained by simple means—Fortune favours 94–117 the industrious—“Genius is patience”—Newton and…

HELPS AND OPPORTUNITIES—SCIENTIFIC PURSUITS. No great result achieved by accident—Newton’s 118–153 discoveries—Dr. Young—Habit of observing with…

INDUSTRY AND THE PEERAGE. The peerage fed from the industrial ranks—Fall of old 202–222 families: Bohuns, Mortimers, and Plantagenets—The peerage…

ENERGY AND COURAGE. Energy characteristic of the Teutonic race—The 223–262 foundations of strength of character—Force of…

MEN OF BUSINESS. Hazlitt’s definition of the man of business—The chief 263–289 requisite qualities—Men of genius men of business—Shakespeare, Chaucer…

MONEY—ITS USE AND ABUSE. The right use of money a test of wisdom—The virtue of 290–313 self-denial—Self-imposed taxes—Economy necessary to…

EXAMPLE—MODELS. Example a potent instructor—Influence of 360–381 conduct—Parental example—All acts have their train of consequences—Disraeli on…

“HEAVEN helps those who help themselves” is a well-tried maxim, embodying in a small compass the results of vast human experience. The spirit of self…

The Government of a nation itself is usually found to be but the reflex of the individuals composing it. The Government that is ahead of the people…

National progress is the sum of individual industry, energy, and uprightness, as national decay is of individual idleness, selfishness, and vice.…

Old fallacies as to human progress are constantly turning up. Some call for Cæsars, others for Nationalities, and others for Acts of Parliament. We…

All nations have been made what they are by the thinking and the working of many generations of men. Patient and persevering labourers in all ranks…

Biographies of great, but especially of good men, are nevertheless most instructive and useful, as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of…

Great men of science, literature, and art—apostles of great thoughts and lords of the great heart—have belonged to no exclusive class nor rank in…

No one knows to a certainty what Shakespeare was; but it is unquestionable that he sprang from a humble rank. His father was a butcher and grazier;…

The common class of day labourers has given us Brindley the engineer, Cook the navigator, and Burns the poet. Masons and bricklayers can boast of Ben…

From the weaver class have sprung Simson the mathematician, Bacon the sculptor, the two Milners, Adam Walker, John Foster, Wilson the ornithologist,…

Cardinal Wolsey, De Foe, Akenside, and Kirke White were the sons of butchers; Bunyan was a tinker, and Joseph Lancaster a basket-maker. Among the…

The sons of clergymen and ministers of religion generally, have particularly distinguished themselves in our country’s history. Amongst them we…

The career of Mr. William Jackson, of Birkenhead, the present member for North Derbyshire, bears considerable resemblance to that of Mr. Lindsay. His…

In all these cases, strenuous individual application was the price paid for distinction; excellence of any sort being invariably placed beyond the…

Riches are so great a temptation to ease and self-indulgence, to which men are by nature prone, that the glory is all the greater of those who,…

Nor have the wealthier classes been undistinguished in the more peaceful pursuits of philosophy and science. Take, for instance, the great names of…

In fine, human character is moulded by a thousand subtle influences; by example and precept; by life and literature; by friends and neighbours; by…

“Deduct all that men of the humbler classes have done for England in the way of inventions only, and see where she would have been but for…

ONE of the most strongly-marked features of the English people is their spirit of industry, standing out prominent and distinct in their past history…

The career of industry which the nation has pursued, has also proved its best education. As steady application to work is the healthiest training for…

Hugh Miller, than whom none knew better the strength and the weakness belonging to the lot of labour, stated the result of his experience to be, that…

The array of great names which we have already cursorily cited, of men springing from the ranks of the industrial classes, who have achieved…

Inventors have set in motion some of the greatest industries of the world. To them society owes many of its chief necessaries, comforts, and luxuries…

Watt was one of the most industrious of men; and the story of his life proves, what all experience confirms, that it is not the man of the greatest…

Even when a boy, Watt found science in his toys. The quadrants lying about his father’s carpenter’s shop led him to the study of optics and astronomy…

Many skilful inventors have from time to time added new power to the steam-engine; and, by numerous modifications, rendered it capable of being…

When the demands of industry are found to press upon the resources of inventors, the same idea is usually found floating about in many minds;—such…

The fashion of wig-wearing having undergone a change, distress fell upon the wig-makers; and Arkwright, being of a mechanical turn, was…

Arkwright was a man of great force of character, indomitable courage, much worldly shrewdness, with a business faculty almost amounting to genius. At…

All the other great branches of industry in Britain furnish like examples of energetic men of business, the source of much benefit to the…

The founder of the Peel family, about the middle of last century, was a small yeoman, occupying the Hole House Farm, near Blackburn, from which he…

The career of Yates, Peel, & Co., was throughout one of great and uninterrupted prosperity. Sir Robert Peel himself was the soul of the firm; to…

Sir Robert Peel readily appreciated the value of all new processes and inventions; in illustration of which we may allude to his adoption of the…

Lee’s brother, with seven of the workmen, succeeded in escaping from France with their frames, leaving two behind. On James Lee’s return to…

One of the most important modifications in the Stocking-Frame was that which enabled it to be applied to the manufacture of lace on a large scale. In…

When a little over twenty-one years of age, Heathcoat went to Nottingham, where he readily found employment, for which he soon received the highest…

During this time his wife was kept in almost as great anxiety as himself, for she well knew of his trials and difficulties while he was striving to…

After the trial was over, Mr. Heathcoat, on inquiry, found about six hundred machines at work after his patent, and he proceeded to levy royalty upon…

The Luddites seem to have been encouraged by the lenity of the sentences pronounced on such of their confederates as had been apprehended and tried;…

In 1831 the electors of Tiverton, of which town Mr. Heathcoat had proved himself so genuine a benefactor, returned him to represent them in…

We next turn to a career of a very different kind, that of the illustrious but unfortunate Jacquard, whose life also illustrates in a remarkable…

His parents dying, Jacquard found himself in a measure compelled to take to his father’s two looms, and carry on the trade of a weaver. He…