Samuel Smiles

Watt, also, when inventing the condensing steam-engine, maintained himself by making and selling mathematical instruments. He made flutes, organs,…

These great workers did not feel ashamed of labouring with their hands for a living; but they also felt within themselves the power of doing…

Horace Walpole has said that Queen Caroline's patronage of Stephen Duck, the thresher poet, ruined twenty men, who all turned poets. It was not so…

At the same time, a man who feels that he has some good work in him, which study and labour might yet bring out, is fully justified in denying…

The author in his boyhood knew three men who worked in an agricultural implement maker's shop. They worked in wood and iron, and made carts, ploughs,…

Two of the young men, who worked at the same bench, contrived to save enough money to enable them to attend college during the winter. At the end…

It is not necessary to trace their history; but what they eventually arrived at, may be mentioned. Of the first two, one became the teacher and…

Although mechanics' institutes are old institutions, they have scarcely been supported by working men. The public-house is more attractive and more…

We have referred to the wise practice of men in humble position maintaining themselves by their trade until they saw a way towards maintaining…

Franklin long maintained himself by his trade of printing. He was a hard-working man,--thrifty, frugal and a great saver of time. He worked for…

Samuel Richardson, while writing his novels, stuck to his trade of a bookseller. He sold his books in the front shop, while he wrote them in the back…

Students of Art have had to practise self-denial in many ways. Quentin Matsys, having fallen in love with a painter's daughter, and determined to win…

The greater number of artists have sprung from humble life. If they had been born rich, they would probably never have been artists. They have had to…

Chantry of Sheffield, was an economist both of time and money. He saved fifty pounds out of his earnings as a carver and gilder; paid the money to…

Canova was a stone-cutter, like his father and his grandfather; and through stone-cutting he worked his way to sculpture. After leaving the quarry,…

Lough, the English sculptor, is another instance of self-denial and hard work. When a boy, he was fond of drawing. At school, he made drawings of…

At length Lough went from Newcastle to London, to push his way in the world of art. He obtained a passage in a collier, the skipper of which he knew.…

Chantrey once said to Haydon, "When I have made money enough, I will devote myself to high art." But busts engrossed Chantrey's time. He was…

The exhibition of Milo was a great success. The Duke of Wellington went to see it, and ordered a statue. Sir Matthew White Eidley was much struck…

It is not necessary to describe the success of Mr. Lough as a sculptor. His statue of "The Mourners" is known all over the world. He has…

The gentleman to whom Lord Derby referred was Mr. Nasmyth, the inventor of the steam hammer. And as he has himself permitted the story of his life to…

"I look back," Mr. Nasmyth says, "to the hours of Saturday afternoons spent in having the run of the workshops of this small foundry as the true…

In course of time, young Nasmyth, with the aid of his father's tools, could do little jobs for himself. He made steels for tinder-boxes, which he…

Nasmyth was now twenty years old, and wished to turn his practical faculties to account. His object was to find employment in one of the great…

Then came the question of wages. When Nasmyth finally left home to begin the world on his own account, he determined _not to cost his father…

Well, about the wages. When Mr. Maudslay referred his young workman to the chief cashier as to his weekly wages, it was arranged that Nasmyth was…

Next year his wages were increased to fifteen shillings. He then began to save money. He did not put it in a bank, but used his savings for the…

After three years spent at Maudslay's, Mr. Nasmyth returned to Edinburgh to construct a small stock of engineering tools suitable for starting him in…

"There," says he, "I toiled right heartily until December 31st, 1856, when I retired to enjoy, in _active_ leisure, the result of many an anxious and…

But though Nasmyth retired from business at the age of forty-eight, he did not seek repose in idleness. He continues to be as busy as the busiest;…

"For the future, our main security will be in the wider diffusion of Property, and in all such measures as will facilitate this result. With the…

The methods of practising economy are very simple. Spend less than you earn. That is the first rule. A portion should always be set apart for the…

The next rule is to pay ready money, and never, on any account, to run into debt. The person who runs into debt is apt to get cheated; and if he runs…

The next is, never to anticipate uncertain profits by expending them before they are secured. The profits may never come, and in that case you will…

Besides these methods of economy, the eye of the master or the mistress is always necessary to see that nothing is lost, that everything is put to…

It is difficult to fix the precise limits of economy. Bacon says that if a man would live well within his income, he ought not to expend more than…

Economy is necessary to the moderately rich, as well as to the comparatively poor man. Without economy, a man cannot be generous. He cannot take part…

Although Englishmen are a diligent, hard-working, and generally self-reliant race, trusting to themselves and their own efforts for their…

Men of all classes are, as yet, too little influenced by these considerations. They are apt to live beyond their incomes,--at all events, to live…

The vice descends in society,--the middle classes strive to ape the patrician orders; they flourish crests, liveries, and hammercloths; their…

To save money for avaricious purposes is altogether different from saving it for economical purposes. The saving may be accomplished in the same…

It is the duty of all persons to economize their means,--of the young as well as of the old. The Duke of Sully mentions, in his Memoirs, that nothing…

Every man's first duty is, to improve, to educate, and elevate himself--helping forward his brethren at the same time by all reasonable methods. Each…

Let a man resolve and determine that he will advance, and the first step of advancement is already made. The first step is half the battle. In the…

Complaints about the inequality of conditions are as old as the world. In the "Economy" of Xenophon, Socrates asks, "How is it that some men live…

The difference between men consists for the most part in intelligence, conduct, and energy. The best character never works by chance, but is under…

There are, of course, many failures in the world. The man who looks to others for help, instead of relying on himself, will fail. The man who is…

Some of the best and ablest of men are wanting in tact. They will neither make allowance for circumstances, nor adapt themselves to circumstances:…

The desire for success in the world, and even for the accumulation of money, is not without its uses. It has doubtless been implanted in the human…

No idle nor thriftless man ever became great. It is amongst those who never lost a moment, that we find the men who have moved and advanced the world…

Most men have it in their power, by prudent arrangements, to defend themselves against adversity, and to throw up a barrier against destitution. They…

The secret of social development is to be found in co-operation; and the great question of improved economical and social life can only receive a…

The middle classes have largely employed the principle of association. No class has risen so rapidly, or done more by their energy and industry to…

The working classes have only begun to employ the same principle. Yet how much might they accomplish by its means! They might co-operate in saving as…

The greater number of workmen possess little capital save their labour; and, as we have already seen, many of them uselessly and wastefully spend…

We do not say that men should save and hoard their gains for the mere sake of saving and hoarding; this would be parsimony and avarice. But we do say…

Workmen are for the most part disposed to associate; but the association is not always of a healthy kind. It sometimes takes the form of Unions…

It is not the want of money that prevents skilled workmen from becoming capitalists, and opening the door for the employment of labouring men who are…

That this is not an impracticable scheme, is capable of being easily proved. The practice of co-operation has long been adopted by workpeople…

Many years passed before the example of the "poor inhabitants" of Hull was followed. It was only in 1847 that the co-operators of Leeds purchased a…