Samuel Smiles

It is not necessary to show that economy is useful. Nobody denies that thrift may be practised. We see numerous examples of it. What many men have…

Let no man say that he cannot economize. There are few persons who could not contrive to save a few shillings weekly. In twenty years, three…

Thrift does not require superior courage, nor superior intellect, nor any superhuman virtue. It merely requires common sense, and the power of…

The question may be asked,--Is it possible for a man working for small wages to save anything, and lay it by in a savings bank, when he requires…

Yet the merest prudence would, to a great extent, have obviated this result. The curtailment of any sensual and selfish enjoyment--of a glass of beer…

Comparatively few people can be rich; but most have it in their power to acquire, by industry and economy, sufficient to meet their personal wants.…

The majority prefer the enjoyment of pleasure to the practice of self-denial. With the mass of men, the animal is paramount. They often spend all…

Money represents a multitude of objects without value, or without real utility; but it also represents something much more precious,--and that is…

As a guarantee of independence, the modest and plebeian quality of economy is at once ennobled and raised to the rank of one of the most…

But a man with something saved, no matter how little, is in a different position. The little capital he has stored up, is always a source of power.…

As men become wise and thoughtful, they generally become provident and frugal. A thoughtless man, like a savage, spends as he gets, thinking…

Economy with this object is an important duty. Without economy, no man can be just--no man can be honest. Improvidence is cruelty to women and…

Many persons are diligent enough in making money, but do not know how to economize it,--or how to spend it. They have sufficient skill and industry…

Cicero said, "Not to have a mania for buying, is to possess a revenue." Many are carried away by the habit of bargain-buying. "Here is something…

Men must prepare in youth and in middle age the means of enjoying old age pleasantly and happily. There can be nothing more distressing than to see…

It is, in fact, in youth that economy should be practised, and in old age that men should dispense liberally, provided they do not exceed their…

This, however, is not the usual practice. The young man now spends, or desires to spend, quite as liberally, and often much more liberally, than…

Socrates recommends fathers of families to observe the practice of their thrifty neighbours--of those who spend their means to the best…

Samuel Johnson fully knew the straits of poverty. He once signed his name _Impransus_, or _Dinnerless_. He had walked the streets with Savage, not…

"Self-love and social are the same," says one of our poets. The man who improves himself, improves the world. He adds one more true man to the mass.…

The sum and substance of our remarks is this: In all the individual reforms or improvements that we desire, we must begin with ourselves. We must…

The uncertainty of life is a strong inducement to provide against the evil day. To do this is a moral and social, as well as a religious duty. "He…

The uncertainty of life is proverbially true. The strongest and healthiest man may be stricken down in a moment, by accident or disease. If we take…

Equally extensive observations have been made as to the average number of persons of various ages who die yearly. It is always the number of the…

Indeed, there would seem to be no such thing as chance in the world. Man lives and dies in conformity to a law. A sparrow falls to the ground in…

Now it is the business of man to understand the laws of health, and to provide against their consequences,--as, for instance, in the matter of…

Many people have yet to learn, that virtue, knowledge, freedom, and prosperity must spring from themselves. Legislation can do very little for them:…

The spendthrift laughs at legislation. The drunkard defies it, and arrogates the right of dispensing with forethought and self-denial,--throwing upon…

The cry sickens the soul. It shows gross ignorance of the first elements of personal welfare. Help is in men themselves. They were born to help and…

The number of well-paid workmen in this country has become very large, who might easily save and economize, to the improvement of their moral…

In "prosperous times" they spend their gains recklessly, and when adverse times come, they are at once plunged in misery. Money is not used, but…

"Prosperous times" are very often the least prosperous of all times. In prosperous times, mills are working full time; men, women, and children are…

If this apparent prosperity be closely examined, it will be found that expenditure is increasing in all directions. There are demands for higher…

Thus, when a population is thoughtless and improvident, no kind of material prosperity will benefit them. Unless they exercise forethought and…

In making the preceding observations we do not in the least advocate the formation of miserly, penurious habits; for we hate the scrub, the screw,…

"Where is their common sense? Alas, what imprudence! Early marriages; many children; poor-rates, and the workhouse.... They are born; they are…

England is one of the richest countries in the world. Our merchants are enterprising, our manufacturers are industrious, our labourers are…

Parliamentary reports have again and again revealed to us the miseries endured by certain portions of our working population. They have described the…

Much of the existing misery is caused by selfishness--by the greed to accumulate wealth on the one hand, and by improvidence on the other.…

With respect to the poorer classes,--what has become of them in the midst of our so-called civilization? An immense proportion of them remain…

They work, eat, drink, and sleep: that constitutes their life. They think nothing of providing for to-morrow, or for next week, or for next year.…

Captain Parry found the Esquimaux near the North Pole as uncivilized as the miserable creatures who inhabit the dens of our great cities. They were,…

And yet Mr. Denison clearly saw that if the people were sufficiently educated, and taught to practise the virtue of Thrift, much of this misery might…

After showing how married men might also save, Mr. Denison goes on to say, "Saving is within the reach of nearly every man, even if quite at the…

No one can reproach the English workman with want of industry. He works harder and more skilfully than the workman of any other country; and he might…

Hence, the skilled workman, unless trained in good habits, may exhibit no higher a life than that of the mere animal; and the earning of increased…

Though trade has invariably its cycles of good and bad years, like the lean and fat kine in Pharaoh's dream--its bursts of prosperity, followed by…

This habitual improvidence--though of course there are many admirable exceptions--is the real cause of the social degradation of the artizan. This…

We have certainly had numerous "Reforms." We have had household suffrage, and vote by ballot. We have relieved the working classes of the taxes on…

Franklin, with his shrewd common sense, observed, "The taxes are indeed very heavy; and if those laid on by the Government were the only ones we…

Lord John Russell once made a similar statement to a body of working men who waited upon him for the purpose of asking relief from taxation. "You…

Complaining that the laws are bad, and that the taxes are heavy, will not mend matters. Aristocratic government, and the tyranny of masters, are…

Those who say that "It can't be done," are probably not aware that many of the working classes are in the receipt of incomes considerably larger than…

That this is the case, is not, by any means, a secret. It is published in blue-books, it is given in evidence before parliamentary committees, it…

Families employed in the cotton manufacture are able to earn over three pounds a week, according to the number of the children employed.[1] Their…

The wages are similar in the Burnley district, where food, drink, and dress absorb the greater part of the workpeople's earnings. In this, as in…

The operatives employed in the woollen manufacture receive about forty shillings a week, and some as much as sixty,[1] besides the amount earned by…

A good mechanic in an engine shop makes from thirty-five to forty-five shillings a week, and some mechanics make much larger wages. Multiply these…

"No doubt such earnings seem large to clerks, and educated men, who after receiving a costly education have often to struggle hard for bread; but…

Iron-workers are paid a still higher rate of wages. A plate-roller easily makes three hundred a year.[2] The rollers in rail mills often make much…