Great Throughts Treasury

"What I engage in, I must push inordinately."

"The secret of happiness is renunciation."

"I believe the true road to preeminent success in any line is to make yourself master of that line."

"Concentration is my motto - first honesty, then industry, then concentration."

"Most of the troubles of humanity are imaginary and should be laughed out of court. It is folly to cross a bridge until you come to it, or to bid the Devil good-morning until you meet him - perfect folly. All is well until the stroke falls, and even then, nine times out of ten, it is not so bad as anticipated. A wise man is the confirmed optimist."

"Public sentiment will come to be, that the man who dies rich dies disgraced."

"I have never known a concern to make a decided success that did not do good, honest work, and even in these days of fiercest competition, when everything would seem to be a matter of price, there lies still at the root of great business success the very much more important factor of quality. The effect of attention to quality, upon every man in the service, from the president of the concern down to the humblest laborer, cannot be overestimated."

"The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he is justly entitled."

"There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb himself."

"Upon the sacredness of property civilization depends - the right of the laborer. There is very little success where there is little laughter."

"While the law (of competition) may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is the best for the race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department."

"Put all good eggs in one basket and then watch that basket."

"No kind action is ever lost."

"Upon the sacredness of property civilization itself depends – the right of the laborer to this hundred dollars in the savings bank, and equally the right of the millionaire to his millions."

"Remember happiness doesn’t depend upon who you are or what you have; it depends solely upon what you think."

"The man who dies rich dies disgraced."

"Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves."

"All honor's wounds are self-inflicted."

"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do."

"There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb himself."

"No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself, or to get all the credit for doing it."

"An obsessional desire to render useful service."