“He warned the young men he hoped would read and profit from his teachings not to confine their reading to books that had a practical application to their work.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“Armed with a working memory of lines from the great poets, historians, novelists — from contemporary plays, ancient philosophers, and the latest articles in the leading journals, he could enter any room and engage anyone in conversation.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“Carnegie had taken this year off to enrich his mind as well as to reinvigorate his body and soak up as much European culture as was possible in twelve months… His friends found it difficult to keep up with him. He had to visit every museum, take in every concert, opera, and theatrical event.” — from Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“You must be a lazy man if it takes you ten hours to do a day’s work.” — direct quote from Andrew Carnegie in the book Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“Another remarkable aspect about this note— and the life plan outlined in it — is the absence of any external motivating force. Carnegie had decided to ‘resign business’ not because anyone had asked him to, not because he had pangs of guilty or shame, not because he had a religious-inspired calling to pursue. He was changing his life because he wanted to — and had the resources to — and because he did not consider the amassing of dollars an end in itself.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“Nothing pleased Carnegie more than throwing himself headfirst into conversations with friends, strangers, shipmates, the people at the adjoining table at the cafe.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“Later in life, when Carnegie was called upon to advise young men on how to succeed in business, he never suggested that unceasing hard work was a prerequisite for acquiring wealth…He did not regard hard work as a virtue in itself…The piling up of wealth signified nothing in itself, except that one had been in the right place at the right time, avoided a variety of moral vices, and wisely concentrated one’s energies and talents.” - from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“Andy took his own self-education seriously. He wanted to read widely because that was what a man and citizen did, whether artisan or mechanic, clerk or merchant, Scottish or American. Book learning was a means toward, and a sign of, moral distinction.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
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“It was not easy being a messenger boy in Pittsburgh or in any city whose streets did not cross at right angles in a New York City-style grid. Andy’s greatest fear was that he would not be able to find the offices he was supposed to deliver messages to. ‘So I started in and learned all the addresses by heard, up one side of Wood Street and down the other. Then I learned the other business streets in the same way.’ After memorizing the street map, he learned the names — and faces — of the city’s businessmen so that, should he manage to meet one in the street, he could say hello and, in those rare but magical moments when he had a telegram, deliver it on the spot.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
Have a menial job? Is there something you can do to set yourself apart? Andy Carnegie was a messenger boy but he did a lot more than just deliver messages. He did everything he could to be the best messenger boy he could possibly be and notable people remembered him because of it.
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“All his life, people would remark on his remarkably sunny disposition, his broad smile, and nonstop, good-natured chatter.” — from Andrew Carnegie by David Nasaw
