Quotes by Carnegie, Andrew

"No person will make a great business who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit."

Carnegie, Andrew on delegation   

"Do not look for approval except for the consciousness of doing your best."

Carnegie, Andrew on excellence
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"All honor's wounds are self-inflicted."

Carnegie, Andrew on honor
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"We accept and welcome... 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."

Carnegie, Andrew on inequality   

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

Carnegie, Andrew on inheritance   

"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."

Carnegie, Andrew on mind   

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

Carnegie, Andrew on payment   

"Immense power is acquired by assuring yourself in your secret reveries that you were born to control affairs."

Carnegie, Andrew on power   

"You can't push anyone up the ladder unless he is ready to climb himself."

Carnegie, Andrew on preparation   

"This, then, is held to be the duty of the man of wealth: First, to set an example of modest, unostentatious living, shunning display or extravagance; to provide moderately for the legitimate wants of those dependent upon 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 judgment, 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."

Carnegie, Andrew on riches   

"There is no use whatever trying to help people who do not help themselves. You cannot push anyone up a ladder unless he be willing to climb himself."

Carnegie, Andrew on self-improvement
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"As I grow older, I pay less attention to what people say. I just watch what they do."

Carnegie, Andrew on action
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"Aim for the highest."

Carnegie, Andrew on vision   

"The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was free for him to administer during life, will pass away unwept, unhonored, and unsung, no matter to what uses he leave the dross which he cannot take with him. Of such as these the public verdict will then be: The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced. Such, in my opinion, is the true gospel concerning wealth, obedience to which is destined some day to solve the problem of the rich and the poor."

Carnegie, Andrew on wealth   

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

Carnegie, Andrew on wealth   

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

Carnegie, Andrew on wealth   

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

Carnegie, Andrew on winners and winning   

"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%."

Carnegie, Andrew on work   

"No amount of ability is of the slightest avail without honor."

Carnegie, Andrew on ability
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"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. But, whether the law be benign or not, we must say of it: It is here; we cannot evade it; no substitutes for it have been found; and while the law may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it ensures the survival of the fittest in every department."

Carnegie, Andrew on competition   

"Concentrate; put all your eggs in one basket, and watch that basket..."

Carnegie, Andrew on concentration   

"Concentration is my motto -- first honesty, then industry, then concentration."

Carnegie, Andrew on concentration