Quote collection
162 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"There is not such a cradle of democracy upon the earth as the Free Public Library, this republic of letters, where neither rank, office, nor wealth receives the slightest consideration."
"Instead of the question "What must I do for my employer?" substitute "What can I do""
"I believe that the road to pre-eminent success in any line of work is to make yourself master of that line of work."
"I don't believe in God. My God is patriotism. Teach a man to be a good citizen and you have solved the problem of life."
"Whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately."
"The man of business knows that only by years of patient, unremitting attention to affairs can he earn his reward, which is the result, not of chance, but of well-devised means for the attainment of ends."
"The more difficult a problem becomes, the more interesting it is."
"Touch his head, and he will bargain and argue with you to the last; Touch his heart, and he falls upon your breast."
"I have had a long, long life full of troubles, but there is one curious fact about them-nine-tenths of them never happened."
"You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best."
"Surplus wealth is a sacred trust to be managed for the good of others."
"And there is no use whatever, gentlemen, trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself."
"I demand riches in definite terms; I have a definite plan for acquiring riches;I am engaged in carrying out my plan, and I am giving an equivalent,in useful service, of the value of those riches I demand."
"Life is not so much a matter of position as of disposition."
"Give me a man with an average ability but a burning desire to succeed and I will give you a winner in exchange every time."
"The public only knows one side of [Mark Mark Twain] - the amusing part. Little does it suspect that he was a man of strong convictions upon political and social questions and a moralist of no mean order."
"No man can become rich without himself enriching others"
"I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle."
"Give me the life of the boy whose mother is nurse, seamstress, washerwoman, cook, teacher, angel, and saint, all in one, and whose father is guide, exemplar, and friend. No servants to come between. These are the boys who are born to the best fortune."
"Humanities education is the worst thing for an industrialist."