Self-Help

We have abundant illustrations, in our own day, of the fact that the highest intellectual power is not incompatible with the active and efficient…

The path of success in business is usually the path of common sense. Patient labour and application are as necessary here as in the acquisition of…

We have heard of an architect of considerable accomplishments,—a man who had improved himself by long study, and travel in the classical lands of the…

Those who fail in life are however very apt to assume a tone of injured innocence, and conclude too hastily that everybody excepting themselves has…

Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and despatch, are the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business of…

Too little attention, however, is paid to this highly important quality of accuracy. As a man eminent in practical science lately observed to us, “It…

Some take no thought of the value of money until they have come to an end of it, and many do the same with their time. The hours are allowed to…

The person who is negligent of time and its employment is usually found to be a general disturber of others’ peace and serenity. It was wittily…

In addition to the ordinary working qualities the business man of the highest class requires quick perception and firmness in the execution of his…

Though Napoleon had an immense love for details, he had also a vivid power of imagination, which enabled him to look along extended lines of action,…

Like Napoleon, the Duke of Wellington was a first-rate man of business; and it is not perhaps saying too much to aver that it was in no small…

While a subaltern, he became dissatisfied with the slowness of his promotion, and having passed from the infantry to the cavalry twice, and back…

We have already referred to his remarkable power of abstracting himself from the work, no matter how engrossing, immediately in hand, and…

It is, however, generally felt to be a far easier thing to reform the Church and the State than to reform the least of our own bad habits; and in…

But the man who is always hovering on the verge of want is in a state not far removed from that of slavery. He is in no sense his own master, but…

To secure independence, the practice of simple economy is all that is necessary. Economy requires neither superior courage nor eminent virtue; it…

Economy also means the power of resisting present gratification for the purpose of securing a future good, and in this light it represents the…

Every man ought so to contrive as to live within his means. This practice is of the very essence of honesty. For if a man do not manage honestly to…

Admiral Jervis, Earl St. Vincent, has told the story of his early struggles, and, amongst other things, of his determination to keep out of debt. “My…

Mr. Hume hit the mark when he once stated in the House of Commons—though his words were followed by “laughter”—that the tone of living in England…

To provide for others and for our own comfort and independence in old age, is honourable, and greatly to be commended; but to hoard for mere wealth’s…

Worldly success, measured by the accumulation of money, is no doubt a very dazzling thing; and all men are naturally more or less the admirers of…

The power of money is on the whole over-estimated. The greatest things which have been done for the world have not been accomplished by rich men, nor…

The making of a fortune may no doubt enable some people to “enter society,” as it is called; but to be esteemed there, they must possess qualities of…

Practical success in life depends more upon physical health than is generally imagined. Hodson, of Hodson’s Horse, writing home to a friend in…

The success of even professional men depends in no slight degree on their physical health; and a public writer has gone so far as to say that “the…

Sir Joshua Reynolds, as we have already observed, was so earnest a believer in the force of industry that he held that all men might achieve…

Thoroughness and accuracy are two principal points to be aimed at in study. Francis Horner, in laying down rules for the cultivation of his mind,…

The most profitable study is that which is conducted with a definite aim and object. By thoroughly mastering any given branch of knowledge we…

There is usually no want of desire on the part of most persons to arrive at the results of self-culture, but there is a great aversion to pay the…

It is not then how much a man may know, that is of importance, but the end and purpose for which he knows it. The object of knowledge should be to…

Self-discipline and self-control are the beginnings of practical wisdom; and these must have their root in self-respect. Hope springs from it—hope,…

Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man may clothe himself—the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired. One of…

One way in which self-culture may be degraded is by regarding it too exclusively as a means of “getting on.” Viewed in this light, it is…

But many are apt to feel despondent, and become discouraged in the work of self-culture, because they do not “get on” in the world so fast as they…

It has been said, and truly, that it is the defeat that tries the general more than the victory. Washington lost more battles than he gained; but…

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought up-hill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honour. If there were no…

The school of Difficulty is the best school of moral discipline, for nations as for individuals. Indeed, the history of difficulty would be but a…

Wherever there is difficulty, the individual man must come out for better for worse. Encounter with it will train his strength, and discipline his…

Much will be done if we do but try. Nobody knows what he can do till he has tried; and few try their best till they have been forced to do it. “_If_…

And here we would repeat what we have said before, that it is not men of genius who move the world and take the lead in it, so much as men of…

John Howard, the philanthropist, was another illustrious dunce, learning next to nothing during the seven years that he was at school. Stephenson, as…

The tortoise in the right road will beat a racer in the wrong. It matters not though a youth be slow, if he be but diligent. Quickness of parts may…

To conclude: the best culture is not obtained from teachers when at school or college, so much as by our own diligent self-education when we have…

EXAMPLE is one of the most potent of instructors, though it teaches without a tongue. It is the practical school of mankind, working by action, which…

There is, indeed, an essence of immortality in the life of man, even in this world. No individual in the universe stands alone; he is a component…

It is not enough to tell others what they are to do, but to exhibit the actual example of doing. What Mrs. Chisholm described to Mrs. Stowe as the…

It is therefore advisable for young men to seek the fellowship of the good, and always to aim at a higher standard than themselves. Francis Horner,…

Contact with the good never fails to impart good, and we carry away with us some of the blessing, as travellers’ garments retain the odour of the…

The example of the brave is an inspiration to the timid, their presence thrilling through every fibre. Hence the miracles of valour so often…

The circle of his benevolent operation gradually widened. Observing the serious deterioration which had taken place in the quality of British…

“That which raises a country, that which strengthens a country, and that which dignifies a country,—that which spreads her power, creates her moral…

THE crown and glory of life is Character. It is the noblest possession of a man, constituting a rank in itself, and an estate in the general goodwill…

Character is human nature in its best form. It is moral order embodied in the individual. Men of character are not only the conscience of society,…

Franklin, also, attributed his success as a public man, not to his talents or his powers of speaking—for these were but moderate—but to his known…

That character is power, is true in a much higher sense than that knowledge is power. Mind without heart, intelligence without conduct, cleverness…

Truthfulness, integrity, and goodness—qualities that hang not on any man’s breath—form the essence of manly character, or, as one of our old…

There are many counterfeits of character, but the genuine article is difficult to be mistaken. Some, knowing its money value, would assume its…

Integrity in word and deed is the backbone of character; and loyal adherence to veracity its most prominent characteristic. One of the finest…

The true character acts rightly, whether in secret or in the sight of men. That boy was well trained who, when asked why he did not pocket some pears…