"Those who would administer [charity] wisely must, indeed, be wise, for one of the serious obstacles to the improvement of our race is indiscriminate charity. It were better for mankind that the millions of the rich were thrown into the sea than spent to encourage the slothful, the drunken, the unworthy. Of every thousand dollars spent in so-called charity today, it is probable that nine hundred and fifty dollars is unwisely spent - so spent, indeed, as to produce the very evils which it hopes to mitigate or cure."
Andrew Carnegie
Industrialist, Philanthropist
Andrew Carnegie was a steel magnate and philanthropist known for his contributions to industry and education, particularly through libraries.
- Born
- November 25, 1835
- Died
- August 11, 1919
- Quotes
- 162
- Rank
- #749
Quote collection
Andrew Carnegie quotes (page 7 of 9)
162 quotes — follow a thought to its full quote page.
"There is very little success where there is very little laughter."
"Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something."
"Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community."
"I will give a million dollars for any convincing proof of a future life."
"The man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was his to administer during his life, will pass away unwept, unhonoured and insung no matter to what uses he leaves the dross which he cannot take with him."
"In [my] life ... I did not understand steam machinery, but I tried to understand that much more complicated piece of mechanism - man."
"There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it"
"All honor's wounds are self-inflicted."
"I give money for church organs in the hope the organ music will distract the congregation's attention from the rest of the service."
"Men who reach decisions promptly usually have the capacity to move with definiteness of purpose in other circumstances."
"I choose free libraries as the best agencies for improving the masses of the people, because they give nothing for nothing. They only help those who help themselves."
"A sunny disposition is worth more than [a monetary] fortune. Young people should know that it can be cultivated; that the mind like the body can be moved from the shade into sunshine."
"Libraries are reservoirs of strength, grace and wit, reminders of order, calm and continuity, lakes of mental energy, neither warm nor cold, light nor dark.... In any library in the world, I am at home, unselfconscious, still and absorbed. ~Germaine Greer"
"The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work."
"The Republic may not give wealth or happiness, she has not promised these. It is the freedom to pursue these, not their realization, we can claim."
"The only irreplaceable capital an organization possesses is the knowledge and ability of its people. The productivity of that capital depends on how effectively people share their competence with those who can use it."
"There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else."
"What one does easily, one does well."
"There is nothing that robs a righteous cause of its strength more than a millionaire's money."