Andrew Carnegie Quotes

The sole purpose of being rich is to give away money.

Capitalism is about turning luxuries into necessities.

When I did big things, some large corporations like the Pennsylvania Railroad Company were behind me and responsible party.

I give money for church organs in the hope the organ music will distract the congregation's attention from the rest of the service.

Anything in life worth having is worth working for.

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.

There is no idol more debasing than the worship of money.

I am no longer cursed by poverty because I took possession of my own mind, and that mind has yielded me every material thing I want, and much more than I need. But this power of mind is a universal one, available to the humblest person as it is to the greatest.

If thou dost not sow, thou shalt not reap,

Mr. Morgan buys his partners; I grow my own.

The greatest astonishment of my life was the discovery that the man who does the work is not the man who gets rich

There is little success where there is little laughter.

Pioneering don't pay.

One great cause of failure of young men in business is the lack of concentration.

A man who was generous with his wealth. It has been reported that during his lifetime, Carnegie gave away over $350 million of his money to help others.

To summarize what I have said: Aim for the highest; never enter a bar-room; do not touch liquor, or if at all only at meals; never speculate; never indorse beyond your surplus cash fund; make the firm's interest yours; break orders always to save owners; concentrate; put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket; expenditure always within revenue; lastly, be not impatient, for, as Emerson says, "no one can cheat you out of ultimate success but yourselves." I congratulate poor young men upon being born to that ancient and honourable degree which renders it necessary that they should devote themselves to hard work. A basketful of bonds is the heaviest basket a young man ever had to carry. He generally gets to staggering under it. We have in this city creditable instances of such young men, who have pressed to the front rank of our best and most useful citizens. These deserve great credit. But the vast majority of the sons of rich men are unable to resist the temptations to which wealth subjects them, and sink to unworthy lives. I would almost as soon leave a young man a curse, as burden him with the almighty dollar. It is not from this class you have rivalry to fear. The partner's sons will not trouble you much, but look out that some boys poorer, much poorer than yourselves, whose parents cannot afford to give them the advantages of a course in this institute, advantages which should give you a decided lead in the race–look out that such boys do not challenge you at t

We cannot afford to lose the Negro. We have urgent need of all and more. Let us therefore turn our efforts to making the best of him.

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.

All is well since all grows better

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

I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar.

Man does not live by bread alone. I have known millionaires starving for lack of the nutriment which alone can sustain all that is human in man, and I know workmen, and many so-called poor men, who revel in luxuries beyond the power of those millionaires to reach. It is the mind that makes the body rich. There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else. Money can only be the useful drudge of things immeasurably higher than itself. Exalted beyond this, as it sometimes is, it remains Caliban still and still plays the beast. My aspirations take a higher flight. Mine be it to have contributed to the enlightenment and the joys of the mind, to the things of the spirit, to all that tends to bring into the lives of the toilers of Pittsburgh sweetness and light. I hold this the noblest possible use of wealth

Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.

No man can become rich without himself enriching others

If the newspapers begin to publish stories about wars, and the people begin to think and talk of war in their daily conversations, they soon find themselves at war. People get that which their minds dwell upon, and this applies to a group or community or a nation of people, the same as to an individual

What one does easily, one does well.

Wealth is not to feed our egos but to feed the hungry and to help people help themselves.

There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else.

Men are developed the same way gold is mined. When gold is mined, several tons of dirt must be moved to get an ounce of gold; but one doesn't go into the mine looking for dirt - one goes in looking for the gold.

While the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department. We accept and welcome, therefore, as conditions to which we must accommodate ourselves, great inequality of environment, the concentration of business, industrial and commercial, in the hands of a few, and the law of competition between these, as being not only beneficial, but essential for the future progress of the race.

Men who reach decisions promptly usually have the capacity to move with definiteness of purpose in other circumstances.

Is necessarily limited by his lack of knowledge of the circumstances

You develop millionaires the way you mine gold. You expect to move tons of dirt to find an ounce of gold, but you don't go into the mine looking for the dirt-you go in looking for the gold.

Speculation is a parasite feeding upon values, creating none.

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.

I have had a long, long life full of troubles, but there is one curious fact about them-nine-tenths of them never happened.

TEAMWORK: the fuel that allows common people attain uncommon results.

It is trying to be other than one's self that unmans one. Be your own natural self and go ahead.

Nothing tells in the long run like a good judgment, and no sound judgment can remain with the man whose mind is disturbed by the mercurial changes of the stock exchange. It places him under an influence akin to intoxication. What is not, he sees, and what he sees, is not.

He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.

A word, a look, an accent, may affect the destiny not only of individuals, but of nations. He is a bold man who calls anything a trifle.

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.

The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.

Not only had I got rid of the theology and the supernatural, but I had found the truth of evolution.

The surest foundation of a manufacturing concern is quality. After that, and a long way after, comes cost.

The price which society pays for the law of competition, like the price it pays for cheap comforts and luxuries, is great; but the advantages of this law are also greater still than its cost- for it is to this law that we owe our wonderful material development, which brings improved conditions in its train.

The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world takes off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity, and stands on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%.

If it is right that schools should be maintained by the whole community for the well-being of the whole, it is right also that libraries should be so maintained.

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.

Here lies one who knew how to get around him men who were cleverer than himself

There is scarcely an instance of a man who has made a fortune by speculation and kept it

The secret of happiness is renunciation.

Do not think a man has done his full duty when he has performed the work assigned him. A man will never rise if he does only this. Promotion comes from exceptional work.

You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.

Life is not so much a matter of position as of disposition.

This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: To set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent on him; and, after doing so, to consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer, and strictly bound as a matter of duty to administer in the manner which, in his judgement, is best calculated to produce the most beneficial results for the community
the man of wealth thus becoming the mere trustee and agent for his poorer brethren, bringing to their service his superior wisdom, experience, and ability to administer, doing for them better than they would or could do for themselves.

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.

There is nothing that robs a righteous cause of its strength more than a millionaire's money.

Show me a man of average ability but extraordinary desire and I'll show you a winner every time.

Nothing man has discovered or imagined is to be named with the steam engine. It has no fellow. Franklin capturing the lightning, Morse annihilating space with the telegraph, Bell transmitting speech through the air by the telephone, are not less mysterious - being more ethereal, perhaps in one sense they are even more so - still, the labor of the world performed by heating cold water places Watt and his steam engine in a class apart by itself.

I am as a speck of dust in the sun, and not even so much, in this solemn, mysterious, unknowable universe.

There is very little success where there is very little laughter.

It is not the rich man's son that the young struggler for advancement has to fear in the race for life, nor his nephew, nor his cousin. Let him look out for the dark horse in the boy who begins by sweeping out the office.

Three generations from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves.

In [my] life ... I did not understand steam machinery, but I tried to understand that much more complicated piece of mechanism - man.

Why should men leave great fortunes to their children? If this is done from affection, is it not misguided affection? Observation teaches that, generally speaking, it is not well for the children that they should be so burdened.

No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.

Not evil, but good, has come to the race from the accumulation of wealth by those who have the ability and energy that produce it.

Surplus wealth is a sacred trust to be managed for the good of others.

The battle of life is already half won by the young man who is brought in contact with high officials; and the great aim of every boy should be to do something beyond the sphere of his duties- something which attracts the attention of those over him.

Strength is derived from unity. The range of our collective vision is far greater when individual insights become one.

Perhaps the most tragic thing about mankind is that we are all dreaming about some magical garden over the horizon, instead of enjoying the roses that are right outside today.

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

All human beings can alter their lives by altering their attitudes.

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

Teamwork appears most effective if each individual helps others to succeed, increasing the synergy of that team; ideally, every person will contribute different skills to increase the efficiency of the team and develop its unity.

Neither the individual nor the race is improved by almsgiving. The best means of benefiting the community is to place within its reach the ladders upon which the aspiring can rise.

Any person can achieve greatness if they understand the philosophy of success and the steps required to achieve it.

When fate hands us a lemon, let's try to make lemonade.

Instead of the question "What must I do for my employer?" substitute "What can I do"

It is more difficult to give money away intelligently than to earn it in the first place.

The best time to expand is when no one else dares to take risks

The way to become rich is to put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.

Young man, make your name worth something.

Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something.

Every man gravitates to where he belongs in life, just as surely as water seeks and finds its level. His position is measured precisely by the quality and quantity of the service he renders, plus the mental attitude with which he relates himself to other people ...

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.

I wish to have as my epitaph: 'Here lies a man who was wise enough to bring into his service men who knew more than he.'

Concentrate your energies, your thoughts and your capital. The wise man puts all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket.

That 95 per cent. fail of those who start in business upon their own account seems incredible, and yet such are said to be the statistics upon the subject.

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.

Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on one line, resolve to fight it out on that line, to lead in it, adopt every improvement, have the best machinery, and know the most about it.

You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.

The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.

The result of my journey was to bring a certain mental peace. Where there had been chaos there was now order. My mind was at rest. I had a philosophy at last. The words of Christ "The Kingdom of Heaven is within you," had a new meaning for me. Not in the past or in the future, but now and here is Heaven within us. All our duties lie in this world and in the present, and trying impatiently to peer into that which lies beyond is as vain as fruitless.

I can't afford to pay them any other way.

Aim for the highest.

I believe the true road to preeminent success in any line is to make yourself master in that line. I have no faith in the policy of scattering one's resources, and in my experience I have rarely if ever met a man who achieved preeminence in money making.. certainly never one in manufacturing.. who was interested in many concerns.

Success can be attained in any branch of labor. There's always room at the top in every pursuit.