The life of Andrew Carnegie is an inspiring ‘rags to riches’ tale that saw him rise from extreme poverty in Scotland to become America’s richest man. Carnegie showed a willingness to move from job to job to secure better wages and a broader range of experience. He was never one to accept that he could not better himself. He was a voracious reader, valuing every opportunity to further his knowledge and education.
Carnegie’s other great talent was his ability to remember names and faces. As a telegraph messenger, he made sure he knew every influential business person in Pittsburgh, where he was based. He became known as a young man willing to work hard and who was trustworthy and intelligent.
Carnegie’s perseverance and watchfulness paid off when he was offered a post with the Pennsylvania Railroad Company as a secretary and telegraph operator. Promotion came quickly, and he rose to be the Superintendent of the Railroad’s Western Division. Through mentoring by Thomas A. Scott, Carnegie learned about management and controlling costs. These skills were to set him in good stead in his future business undertakings.
Carnegie took every opportunity that presented itself to him over the next years, building up a portfolio of investments in railroads. He came to own ironworks, bridge companies, and steel plants. Carnegie was an engaging personality and was able to take advantage of the connections he made through his business and the social events he attended.
Carnegie was well-read and friends with literary figures from both Britain and the US. He valued education and it was his friendship with Enoch Pratt, who triggered his interest in establishing free public libraries. Carnegie spent the second half of his life distributing the fortune that he had accumulated. Free libraries were an essential part of this philanthropy, and even today, there are libraries in many places bearing the Carnegie name.
Carnegie’s life gives us many clues to his beliefs and his doctrine for business success. He promotes the need for perseverance, determination, and single-mindedness. Aim to be the best you can be, and to do the best job you can do. Always be the best in everything you attempt.
Success is the reward for hard work and diligence. Never think you do not deserve a reward for your work. There is plenty of room for successful people at the top of every field of business.
Leadership, according to Carnegie, requires some special skills. Achieving success requires teamwork, and good leadership will be needed. No one should try to do everything themselves but must learn the art of delegation and management. Know what you can do, but know where others will perform better than you.
In business, though, Carnegie was convinced that concentrating on what you knew best was the wisest approach. He stuck to iron and steel and proved that he was right.
Motivation, for Carnegie, is the trigger for all success. Motivate yourself in whatever way you feel happy doing, but don’t let yourself down by giving up. For Carnegie, his poverty-stricken upbringing was all the motivation he needed.
Andrew Carnegie Famous Quotes
A sunny disposition is worth more than fortune. Young people should know that it can be cultivated; that the mind, like the body can be moved for the shade into sunshine.
Andrew Carnegie
And the law of competition may be sometimes hard for the individual but it’s best for the race because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department.
Andrew Carnegie
Every act you have ever performed since the day you were born was because you wanted something. Aim for the highest and when it’s a question of God’s almighty spirit. Never say I can’t.
Andrew Carnegie
I did not understand steam machinery but I tried to understand much more complicated mechanism; – man.
Andrew Carnegie
It is the mind that makes the body rich.
Andrew Carnegie
No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.
Andrew Carnegie
Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.
Andrew Carnegie
The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.
Andrew Carnegie
There is no class as pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else.
Andrew Carnegie
You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he is willing to climb a little.
Andrew Carnegie
Aim for the highest.
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie Philanthropy Quotes
As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.
Andrew Carnegie
He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. he that dare not is a slave.
Andrew Carnegie
I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.
Andrew Carnegie
Mr. Morgan buys his partners, I grow my own.
Andrew Carnegie
No person will make a great business; who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit.
Andrew Carnegie
The average person puts only 25% of his energy and ability into his work. The world will take off its hat to those who put in more than 50% of their capacity and the world will stand on its head for those few and far between souls who devote 100%
Andrew Carnegie
The secret of happiness is renunciation.
Andrew Carnegie
Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!
Andrew Carnegie
You must capture and keep the heart of the original and supremely able man before his brain can do its best.
Andrew Carnegie
All achievements, all earned riches have their beginning in an idea.
Andrew Carnegie
Concentrate your energy, your thoughts and your capital.
Andrew Carnegie
I began to learn what poverty meant. It was burnt in my heart then that my father had to beg for work and there came the resolve that I would cure that when I got to be a man.
Andrew Carnegie
I shall argue that strong men conversely know when to compromise and that all principles can be compromised to serve a greater purpose.
Andrew Carnegie
My motto is concentration. First honesty; then industry and then concentration.
Andrew Carnegie
People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.
Andrew Carnegie
The first man gets the oyster, the second gets the shell.
Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie About Success
The secret of success lies not in doing your own work but in recognizing the best person to do it.
Andrew Carnegie
Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves.
Andrew Carnegie
All honor’s wounds are self-inflicted.
Andrew Carnegie
Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.
Andrew Carnegie
I believe that the true road to per-eminent success in any line is to make yourself master of that line.
Andrew Carnegie
I would as soon leave my son a curse as the almighty dollar.
Andrew Carnegie
No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor.
Andrew Carnegie
Success can be attained in any branch of labor. There’s always room at the top in every pursuit.
Andrew Carnegie
The man who acquires the ability to take full possession of his own mind may take possession of anything else to which he justly entitled.
Andrew Carnegie
The wise man put all his eggs in one basket and watches the basket.
Andrew Carnegie
Whatever I engage in, I push inordinately.
Andrew Carnegie
Having begun in 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.
Andrew Carnegie
Don’t look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best.
Andrew Carnegie
I can’t afford to pay them any other way.
Andrew Carnegie
Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs.
Andrew Carnegie
No man becomes rich without himself enriching others.
Andrew Carnegie
Surplus wealth is a sacred trust which its possessor is bound to administer in his lifetime for the good of his community.
Andrew Carnegie
The man who dies rich dies in disgrace.
Andrew Carnegie
There is little success, where there is little laughter.
Andrew Carnegie
When I did big things, some large corporations like the Pennsylvania Railroad Company were behind me and responsible party.
Andrew Carnegie
There are some moving, and thought-provoking Andrew Carnegie quotes here. Be inspired by them, for they come from years of experience.
