Andrew Carnegie 1835 - 1919
Andrew Carnegie was a Scottish American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century.
He built a leadership role as a philanthropist for America and the British Empire. He gave away to charities and foundations about $350 million (in 2015, $4.76 billion) – almost 90 percent of his fortune. His 1889 article proclaiming "The Gospel of Wealth" called on the rich to use their wealth to improve society, and it stimulated a wave of philanthropy.
Carnegie was born in Dunfermline, Scotland, and immigrated to the United States with his very poor parents in 1848.
Carnegie started work as a telegrapher and by the 1860s had investments in railroads, railroad sleeping cars, bridges and oil derricks. He accumulated further wealth as a bond salesman raising money for American enterprise in Europe. He built Pittsburgh's Carnegie Steel Company, which he sold to J.P. Morgan in 1901 for $480 million (in 2015, $13.6 billion), creating the U.S. Steel Corporation.
Carnegie devoted the remainder of his life to large-scale philanthropy, with special emphasis on local libraries, world peace, education and scientific research. With the fortune he made from business, he built Carnegie Hall and he founded the Carnegie Corporation of New York, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Carnegie Institution for Science, Carnegie Trust for the Universities of Scotland, Carnegie Hero Fund, Carnegie Mellon University and the Carnegie Museums of Pittsburgh, among others.
more at :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie
The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.
There is little success where there is little laughter.
You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
And while the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.
Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of the community.
The first man gets the oyster, the second man gets the shell.
Concentration is my motto - first honesty, then industry, then concentration.
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%.
Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.
The way to become rich is to put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.
He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.
Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.
I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.
I shall argue that strong men, conversely, know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater principle.
Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs.
Whatever I engage in, I must push inordinately.
Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!
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.
The 'morality of compromise' sounds contradictory. Compromise is usually a sign of weakness, or an admission of defeat. Strong men don't compromise, it is said, and principles should never be compromised.
Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was performed because you wanted something.
Carnegie Hall (exterior)
