Struggles and Triumphs

A second, third and fourth witness were called, and the examination was similar to the foregoing. Another witness then appeared to testify in…

This trial lasted two days, to the great delight of all on board. After my success with the “naturalist” not one half of the witnesses would appear…

The trial afforded a pleasant topic of conversation for the rest of the voyage; and the morning before arriving in port, a vote of thanks was…

After my arrival in New York, oftentimes in passing up and down Broadway I saw old and prosperous friends coming, but before I came anywhere near…

Mr. James D. Johnson, of Bridgeport, one of my assignees, who had written to me that my personal presence might facilitate a settlement of my affairs…

Meanwhile, Iranistan which had been closed and unoccupied for more than two years, was once more opened to the carpenters and painters whom Mr.…

Subsequently, my assignees sold the grounds and out-houses of Iranistan to the late Elias Howe, Jr., the celebrated inventor of the needle for sewing…

Seeing the necessity of making more money to assist in extricating me from my financial difficulties, and leaving my affairs in the hands of Mr.…

Finding, after a while, that my personal attention was not needed in the Tom Thumb exhibitions and confiding him almost wholly to agents who…

But the trouble does not end here. Feeling that she is so economical in tallow candles, she thinks she can afford to go frequently to the village and…

My friend, you need not take that trouble, you can easily prove that you are “as good as he is”; you have only to behave as well as he does, but…

My good woman you will not get ahead in the world, if your vanity and envy thus take the lead. In this country, where we believe the majority ought…

Men and women accustomed to gratify every whim and caprice, will find it hard, at first, to cut down their various unnecessary expenses, and will…

The foundation of success in life is good health; that is the substratum of fortune; it is also the basis of happiness. A person cannot accumulate…

DON’T MISTAKE YOUR VOCATION.--The safest plan, and the one most sure of success for the young man starting in life, is to select the vocation which…

Unless a man enters upon the vocation intended for him by nature, and best suited to his peculiar genius, he cannot succeed. I am glad to believe…

He accepted my offer and remained two years in my New York Museum. He then went to New Orleans and carried on a travelling show business during the…

Do not let it work against you; If you do, there is no chance for success in life so far as money is concerned. John Randolph, the eccentric…

Perseverance is sometimes but another word for self-reliance. Many persons naturally look on the dark side of life, and borrow trouble. They are born…

WHATEVER YOU DO, DO WITH ALL YOUR MIGHT.--Work at it, if necessary, early and late, in season and out of season, not leaving a stone unturned, and…

DEPEND UPON YOUR OWN PERSONAL EXERTIONS.--The eye of the employer is often worth more than the hands of a dozen employees. In the nature of things,…

Among the maxims of the elder Rothschild was one, an apparent paradox: “Be cautious and bold.” This seems to be a contradiction in terms, but it is…

USE THE BEST TOOLS.--Men in engaging employees should be careful to get the best. Understand, you cannot have too good tools to work with, and…

An employee offers his services by saying, “I have a pair of hands and one of my fingers thinks.” “That is very good,” says the employer. Another man…

“There is no royal road to learning,” says the proverb, and I may say it is equally true, “there is no royal road to wealth.” But I think there is…

He might more truly say, “if you can’t make a fool of yourself”; but he is “fast,” hates slow things, and don’t “see it.” Young men loaded down…

LEARN SOMETHING USEFUL.--Every man should make his son or daughter learn some trade or profession, so that in these days of changing fortunes--of…

LET HOPE PREDOMINATE, BUT BE NOT TOO VISIONARY.--Many persons are always kept poor, because they are too visionary. Every project looks to them…

DO NOT SCATTER YOUR POWERS.--Engage in one kind of business only, and stick to it faithfully until you succeed, or until your experience shows that…

BE SYSTEMATIC.--Men should be systematic in their business. A person who does business by rule, having a time and place for everything, doing his…

READ THE NEWSPAPERS.--Always take a trustworthy newspaper and thus keep thoroughly posted in regard to the transactions of the world. He who is…

A few days elapse and it is discovered he must put in ten thousand dollars more; soon after he is told “it is all right,” but certain matters not…

You reflect that he is worth twenty thousand dollars, and you incur no risk by indorsing his note; you like to accommodate him, and you lend your…

Of course I did, and so did everybody else, and I learned that the man had made an independence by first attracting the public to his business in…

BE POLITE AND KIND TO YOUR CUSTOMERS. Politeness and civility are the best capital ever invested in business. Large stores, gilt signs, flaming…

BE CHARITABLE.--Of course men should be charitable, because it is a duty and a pleasure. But even as a matter of policy, if you possess no higher…

DON’T BLAB.--Some men have a foolish habit of telling their business secrets. If they make money they like to tell their neighbors how it was done.…

The London _Morning Post_, the _Advertiser_, the _Chronicle_, the _Telegraph_, the _Herald_, the _News_, the _Globe_, the _Sun_, and other lesser…

During the year 1859, I delivered this lecture nearly one hundred times in different parts of England, returning occasionally to London to repeat…

Remembering my experiences, some years before, with General Tom Thumb at Oxford and Cambridge, and the fondness of the undergraduates for practical…

This reply turned the laugh against the youthful and anxious inquirer and had the effect of keeping other students quiet for a half hour. Thereafter,…

I looked at my watch and quietly remarked, “Oh! there is time for lots of fun yet; we have nearly forty minutes of the hour remaining,” and I…

But they liked better, they said, to get the party angry. A fortnight before, they told me, my friend Howard Paul had left them in disgust, because…

My friend Wilson expressed himself extremely anxious to do any service for me which might at any time be in his power. Soon after I arrived in…

Had I made a fortune of £100,000 I should have been proud of such a place in your book as Albert Smith has in your Autobiography; but, as I have only…

Mr. Wilson was one of the large class of English manufacturers who suffered seriously from the effects of the rebellion in the United States. As an…

The great fair of the Sanitary Commission, held in New York during the war, affords one of the most interesting chapters in American history. It…

There is an anniversary in Bury, and I believe only in that place in England, called “Simnel Sunday.” Like many old observances, its origin is lost…

And such was the monster cake, with its warlike emblems, which attracted so much attention at the Fair, and added considerably to the receipts for…

It may thus be seen that my friend Wilson is not only “an enterprising Englishman,” but that he is also a generous, noble-hearted man,--one who in…

I need not dwell upon the details of what I suffered from the doings of those heartless, unscrupulous men who fatten upon the misfortunes of others.…

On the 17th of March, 1860, Messrs. Butler & Greenwood signed an agreement to sell and deliver to me on the following Saturday, March 24th, their…

“But, ladies and gentlemen, while Charity thus labored in my behalf, Faith and Hope were not idle. I have been anything but indolent during the…

“Many people have wondered that a man considered so acute as myself should have been deluded into embarrassments like mine, and not a few have…

“Experience is said to be a hard schoolmaster, but I should be sorry to feel that this great lesson in adversity has not brought forth fruits of some…

“In conclusion, I beg to assure you and the public that my chief pleasure, while health and strength are spared me, will be to cater for your and…

The announcement that “Richard’s himself again”--that I was at last out of the financial entanglement--was variously received in the community.…

My editorial friend, Mr. Robert Bonner, of the New York _Ledger_, sincerely congratulated me upon my full and complete restoration. I had some new…

Nor must I neglect to state that a large number of my creditors who held the clock notes, proved very magnanimous in taking into consideration the…

Not yours the heart to harbor ill ’Gainst those who’ve dealt in trivial jesting; You pass them with the same good will Erst shown when they their wit…