Andrew Carnegie Quotes

You are what you think. So just think big, believe big, act big, work big, give big, forgive big, laugh big, love big and live big.

There is a power under your control that is greater than poverty, greater than the lack of education, greater than all your fears and superstitions combined. It is the power to take possession of your own mind and direct it to whatever ends you may desire.

The first thing to do about an obstacle is simply to stand up to it and not complain about it or whine under it but forthrightly attack it. Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven't half the strength you think they have. Just stand up to it, that's all, and don't give way under it, and it will finally break. You will break it. Something has to break and it won't be you, it will be the obstacle.

If you want to be happy, set a goal that commands your thoughts, liberates your energy, and inspires your hopes.

Ninety percent of all millionaires become so through owning real estate. More money has been made in real estate than in all industrial investments combined. The wise young man or wage earner of today invests his money in real estate.

Young man, make your name worth something.

I am no longer cursed by poverty because I took possession of my own mind, and that mind has yielded me every material thing I want, and much more than I need. But this power of mind is a universal one, available to the humblest person as it is to the greatest.

No man becomes rich unless he enriches others.

Take away my people, but leave my factories and soon grass will grow on the factory floors......Take away my factories, but leave my people and soon we will have a new and better factory.

Wealth is not to feed our egos but to feed the hungry and to help people help themselves.

Be king in your dreams. Make your vow that you will reach that position, with untarnished reputation, and make no other vow to distract your attention.

The greatest astonishment of my life was the discovery that the man who does the work is not the man who gets rich

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.

Teamwork is the ability to work together toward a common vision. The ability to direct individual accomplishments toward organizational objectives. It is the fuel that allows common people to attain uncommon results.

The older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do.

The secret of success lies not in doing your own work, but in recognizing the right man to do it.

The sole purpose of being rich is to give away money.

No man will make a great leader who wants to do it all himself or get all the credit for doing it.

The man of wealth [should] consider all surplus revenues which come to him simply as trust funds, which he is called upon to administer 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 that they would or could do for themselves.

A library outranks any other one thing a community can do to benefit its people. It is a never failing spring in the desert.

There is no use whatsoever in trying to help people who do not help themselves.

The secret of happiness is renunciation.

Put all your eggs in one basket and then watch that basket.

As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.

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.

Do your duty and a little more and the future will take care of itself.

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%.

There is little success where there is little laughter.

Every man gravitates to where he belongs in life, just as surely as water seeks and finds its level. His position is measured precisely by the quality and quantity of the service he renders, plus the mental attitude with which he relates himself to other people.

The best time to expand is when no one else dares to take risks

People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.

A man's reading program should be as carefully planned as his daily diet, for that too is food, without which he cannot grow mentally.

There are two types of people who never achieve very much in their lifetimes. One is the person who won't do what he or she is told to do, and the other is the person who does no more than he or she is told to do.

Don't be content with doing only your duty. Do more than your duty. It's the horse that finishes a neck ahead that wins the race.

Think of yourself as on the threshold of unparalleled success. A whole, clear, glorious life lies before you. Achieve! Achieve!

While the law [of competition] may be sometimes hard for the individual, it is best for the race, because it insures the survival of the fittest in every department. We accept and welcome, therefore, 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.

The men who have succeeded are men who have chosen one line and stuck to it.

Success is the power to acquire whatever one demands of life without violating the rights of others.

One great cause of failure of young men in business is lack of concentration.

Three generations from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves.

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

Watch the costs and the profits will take care of themselves.

Do not think a man has done his full duty when he has performed the work assigned him. A man will never rise if he does only this. Promotion comes from exceptional work.

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

Here is the prime condition of success: Concentrate your energy, thought and capital exclusively upon the business in which you are engaged. Having begun on 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.

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.

The rare individuals who unselfishly try to serve others have an enormous advantage-they have little competition.

Anything in life worth having is worth working for.

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

You cannot push any one up a ladder unless he be willing to climb a little himself.