Samuel Smiles Quotes

A collection of quotes by Samuel Smiles.

Samuel Smiles (1812-1904) was a Scottish author and advocate for self-help and personal improvement. Born on December 23, 1812, in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, he grew up in a working-class family. Smiles faced financial difficulties during his early years, but his strong determination and thirst for knowledge led him to a successful career as a writer and social reformer.

Smiles first worked as an assistant to a doctor before pursuing a career in journalism. He contributed articles to various newspapers and publications, addressing social issues and promoting the idea of self-help. In 1859, he published his most famous work, "Self-Help," which became a bestseller. The book emphasized the importance of hard work, perseverance, and self-reliance in achieving personal success.

Throughout his life, Smiles wrote numerous books and gave lectures on self-improvement, character-building, and moral values. He advocated for education, especially for the working class, believing that knowledge and self-discipline could uplift individuals and improve society as a whole.

Samuel Smiles played a significant role in shaping the popular Victorian idea of self-help, inspiring millions of people to take control of their destinies and work towards self-improvement. Although he faced criticism for promoting individualism and ignoring structural issues, his ideas remain influential in self-help and personal development literature to this day. Samuel Smiles passed away on April 16, 1904, in London, leaving a lasting legacy as a beacon of self-motivation and self-reliance.

We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not

We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery.

Mistakes

Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set u

Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable.

Labor

It is energy -- the central element of which is will -- that

It is energy -- the central element of which is will -- that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action.

Enthusiasm

Where there is a will there is a way. is an old true saying.

Where there is a will there is a way. is an old true saying. He who resolves upon doing a thing, by that very resolution often scales the barriers to it, and secures its achievement. To think we are able, is almost to be so -- to determine upon attainment is frequently attainment itself.

Success & Failure

Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make

Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it.

Life

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts

Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us.

Hope

Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of expe

Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only.

Experience

Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. G

Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step.

Best

Enthusiasm... the sustaining power of all great action.

Enthusiasm... the sustaining power of all great action.

Enthusiasm

The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has

The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted.

Difficulty

The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest o

The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.

Difficulty

The very greatest things -- great thoughts, discoveries, inv

The very greatest things -- great thoughts, discoveries, inventions -- have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty.

Difficulty

An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into r

An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing.

Desires

The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, i

The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom.

Experience

Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession - a proper

Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession - a property entirely our own.

Knowledge

Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of i

Wisdom and understanding can only become the possession of individual men by travelling the old road of observation, attention, perseverance, and industry.

Wisdom

It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success

It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done.

Failure

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill and to w

The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved.

Success

Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by s

Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever.

Health