Samuel Smiles

"There may be some who think the tendency of our policy has been too sentimental. I don't believe in doing business on sentimental principles. But…

The coal famine began to tell upon the iron-workers. The furnaces were often laid off for want of coal. The principal causes of the bad supply of…

Mr. Head strongly urged the men to hold together: "Cease to be deluded," he said, "by these trades unions. Save all you can, and with your savings…

It was of no use. The men's wages went up twenty per cent.; and there was an end of the bonuses. The coal famine continued. The masters, instead of…

Fortunately, there is not a great deal of truth in this letter, nor in the "heartfelt prayer" to Shoddy. The Right Hon. Mr. Forster ought to know…

The late Sir Francis Crossley observed that there was a good deal of unreasonable feeling abroad. It was held by some that it was wrong for working…

"What a contrast between now and say only a hundred years ago!" Certainly there is a very great contrast. England was not a manufacturing country a…

A hundred years ago, we could not build a steam-engine; we could scarcely build a bridge. Look at the churches built a hundred years ago, and…

A hundred years ago, our ships were rotten; they were manned by prisoners taken from the hulks, or by working men pressed in the streets in open day.…

A hundred years ago, literature was at a very low ebb. The press was in a miserable state. William Whitehead was Poet Laureate! Who knows of him now?…

Though drunkenness is bad enough now, it was infinitely worse a hundred years ago. The publican's signboards announced, "You may here get drunk for a…

The pillory was one of our time-honoured institutions fifty years ago, and men and women used to be placed there for offences, such as a wise…

But bull-baiting, cock-fighting, and other ferocious amusements, have now departed. Even the village stocks have rotted out. Drunkenness has become…

The achievements of which England has most reason to be proud, have been accomplished during the last hundred years. English slaves have been…

And then, see what our inventors have accomplished! James Watt invented the steam-engine, which in a few years created a large number of new…

With respect to the charge made against the English workman as to the "sluriness, swiftness, and mendacity" of his work, it is simply impossible that…

It was in the perfect confidence that Englishmen were the best and most honest workers in the world, that free trade was established. Should we…

The English are also the best miners, the best tool-makers, the best instrument-makers, the best "navvies," the best ship-builders, the best spinners…

There is no doubt about the "swiftness" of English Workmanship. But this is one of the merits of English mechanism. M. Jules Simon observes that…

One thing, however, remains to be said of foreign workmen generally. Although they do not work so hard as the English, they take much better care…

Although the French workman has nothing like the same facilities for saving as the English, the _Journal des Débats_ alleges that he saves ten…

Extravagance is the pervading sin of modern society. It is not confined to the rich and moneyed classes, but extends also to the middle and working…

There never was such a burning desire to be rich, or to _seem_ to be rich. People are no longer satisfied with the earnings of honest industry; but…

General extravagance is to be seen everywhere. It is especially the characteristic of town life. You see it in the streets, in the parks, in the…

Appearances must be kept up. Men must _seem_ to be rich. Hypocrites can easily impose upon those who are willing to be convinced. People must now…

There is another class of people, not fraudulent, but extravagant; though perhaps on the brink of becoming fraudulent. They live up to their means,…

But they must not _seem_ poor! They must hide their poverty by every effort. They spend their money before it is earned,--run into debt at the grocer…

Yet poverty is more than half disarmed by those who have the moral courage to say. "I can't afford it." Fair-weather friends are of no use whatever,…

"Mrs. Grundy," in the play, is but an impersonation of the conventionalism of the world. Custom, habit, fashion, use and wont, are all represented in…

Sir William Temple has said, that "a restlessness in men's minds to be something that they are not, and to have something that they have not, is…

This false and demoralizing habit arises from the overweening estimate which is formed of two things, well enough in their place,--rank and wealth.…

One of the most demoralizing practices of modern refinement is the "large party" system. People cram their houses with respectable mobs; thus…

Everybody can call to mind hundreds of cases of men--"respectable men"--who, from one extravagance have gone on to another--wantonly squandering…

To be "respectable," in the false sense of the word,--what is not sacrificed? Peace, honesty, truth, virtue,--all to keep up appearances. We must…

How often is suicide traceable to this false sentiment! Vain men will give up their lives, rather than their class notions of respectability. They…

Of this mean and miserable spirit of class and caste, women are the especial victims. They are generally brought up with false notions of life, and…

Is it not a fact, that in what is called "fashionable society," a fine outside appearance is regarded almost in the light of a virtue?--that to be…