Charles M. Schwab Quotations

Lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to everyone about you, and you will be surprised what a happy life you will lead.

Personality is to a man what perfume is to a flower.

There's no limit possible to the expansion of each one of us.

All successful employers are stalking men who will do the unusual, men who think, men who attract attention by performing more than is expected of them.

When a man has put a limit on what he will do, he has put a limit on what he can do.

Money is often a matter of chance or good fortune and is not the mark of a successful life. It is not the thing that brings a throb of pleasure or a thrill into my life. And I would not pose as a successful man if that were to be the measure.

I have probably purchased fifty 'hot tips' in my career, maybe even more. When I put them all together, I know I am a net loser.

You can make up your mind to do one of two things: You can have a good time in life, or you can have a successful life, but you can't have both. You have got to make up your mind at the start which of the two you are going to have.

Many men fail because they do not see the importance of being kind and courteous to the men under them. Kindness to everybody always pays for itself. And, besides, it is a pleasure to be kind.

As the train rounded the curve, the great smoking stacks of the Edgar Thomson works, the flaming converters belching forth, made such a vivid impression upon my youthful mind that it will never fade. I thought I had seen the very acme of what might be accomplished in an industrial way.

Make your employer feel truthfully that you are sincere with him; that you are going to promote his interest; that you are going to stand for the things which he represents; that you are proud of being a member of his staff, and there is nothing that will reap you a richer reward. Loyalty above all!

There is no royal road to a successful life, as there is no royal road to learning. It has got to be hard knocks, morning, noon, and night, and fixity of purpose.

About all that is needed to put the world on its feet are the right qualities of mind and heart on the part of all men.

I disagreed with Carnegie's ideas on how to best to distribute his wealth. I spent mine! Spending creates more wealth for everybody.

Set out with some definite purpose in life and accomplish that purpose. There is little that the human mind can conceive that is not possible of accomplishment. The thing to do is to make up your mind what you are going to drive for, and let nothing stand in the way of its ultimate accomplishment.

When you start in life, if you find you are wrongly placed, don't hesitate to change, but don't change because troubles come up and difficulties arise. You must meet and overcome and conquer them. And in meeting and overcoming and conquering them, you will make yourself stronger for the future.

The man who has done his best has done everything.

A man who trims himself to suit everybody will soon whittle himself away.

I was once asked if a big business man ever reached his objective. I replied that if a man ever reached his objective he was not a big business man.

A man to carry on a successful business must have imagination. He must see things in a vision, a dream of the whole thing.

The first essential in a boy's career is to find out what he's fitted for, what he's most capable of doing and doing with a relish.

I will not be in the position of having management dictated to by labor.

Most talk about 'super-geniuses' is nonsense. I have found that when 'stars' drop out, successors are usually at hand to fill their places, and the successors are merely men who have learned by application and self-discipline to get full production from an average, normal brain.

Be friends with everybody. When you have friends you will know there is somebody who will stand by you. You know the old saying, that if you have a single enemy you will find him everywhere. It doesn't pay to make enemies. Lead the life that will make you kindly and friendly to every one about you, and you will be surprised what a happy life you will live.

I am one of those men who believes that the best workingman ought to have the best pay.

In the long run, no nation can prosper unless the world prospers.

My own experience is that there is no real effort in life that is not done better under encouragement and approval of our fellow men.

What little success I may have won in life I attribute to the loyalty I had for a dear old friend who was my first steel master, whom you perhaps have never heard of: Captain Bill Jones.

The man who has done his best has done everything. The man who has done less than his best has done nothing.

You can never really get away - - you can only take yourself somewhere else.

For my own part I am more interested in my work than its mere money value.

I am not a believer in large salaries. I hold that every man should be paid for personal production. Our big men at Bethlehem seldom get salaries of over one hundred dollars a week; but all of them receive bonuses computed entirely on the efficiencies and the economies registered in their departments.

I am sure that few successful men are so-called 'natural geniuses.'

I didn't take up shorthand with any idea of becoming a professional at it. It merely appeared to me to be a good thing to know - something that might come in handy.

I have always felt that the surest way to qualify for the job just ahead is to work a little harder than any one else on the job one is holding down.

I have yet to hear an instance where misfortune hit a man because he worked overtime. I know lots of instances where it hit men who did not.

I thought and dreamed of nothing else but the steel works.

If more persons would get so enthused over their day's work that some one would have to remind them to go out to lunch there would be more happiness in the world and less indigestion.

If you must be a glutton, be a glutton for work.

Don't be reluctant about putting on overalls!

In my wide association in life, meeting with many and great men in various parts of the world, I have yet to find the man, however great or exalted his station, who did not do better work and put forth greater effort under a spirit of approval than he would ever do under a spirit of criticism.

Every one's got it in him, if he'll only make up his mind and stick at it. None of us is born with a stop-valve on his powers or with a set limit to his capacities, There's no limit possible to the expansion of each one of us.

Keeping a little ahead of conditions is one of the secrets of business; the trailer seldom goes far.

A factory can be closed down, its chimneys smokeless, waiting for the worker to come back to his job, and all will be peaceful. But the moment workers are imported, and the striker sees his own place usurped, there is bound to be trouble.

Bare hands grip success better than kid gloves.

In my own house I rigged up a laboratory and studied chemistry in the evenings, determined that there should be nothing in the manufacture of steel that I would not know. Although I had received no technical education I made myself master of chemistry and of the laboratory, which proved of lasting value.

It may be in seemingly unimportant things that a man expresses his passion for perfection, yet they will count heavily in the long run.

The man who fails to give fair service during the hours for which he is paid is dishonest. The man who is not willing to give more than this is foolish.

You can tell a workingman you like him, but he knows whether you are sincere or not. You can't make him believe you are interested in his welfare unless you are.

The men who miss success have two general alibis: 'I'm not a genius' is one; and the other, 'There aren't the opportunities today there used to be'.

What we must seek is a plan by which the men will receive high wages when the employers are receiving high prices for the product.

The real test of business greatness is in giving opportunity to others.

The thing that most people call 'genius' I do not believe in.

We have reached in this country an amazing degree of general prosperity, with American business on the whole no longer facing an uphill climb.

There is not a man in power at our Bethlehem steel works today who did not begin at the bottom and work his way up.

The man who counts his hours and kicks about his salary is a self-elected failure.

The man who attracts attention is the man who is thinking all the time, and expressing himself in little ways. It is not the man who tries to dazzle his employer by doing the theatrical, the spectacular.

Many of us think of salespeople as people travelling around with sample kits. Instead, we are all salesman, every day of our lives.

Nothing is more fatal to success than taking one's job as a matter of course.

One of the most successful men I have known never carried a watch until he began to earn ten thousand dollars a year.

Spending creates more wealth for everybody.

The captains of industry are not hunting money. America is heavy with it. They are seeking brains - specialized brains - and faithful, loyal service. Brains are needed to carry out the plans of those who furnish the capital.

The inventor, the man with a unique, specialized talent, is the only real super-genius. But he is so rare that he needs no consideration.

The truth is that we have hitherto made no genuine effort to produce forged steel working parts of automobiles of the highest quality. That is one of the reasons why our automobiles have not ranked with those of foreign make.

Looking to the future I see in the further acceleration of science continuous jobs for our workers. Science will cure unemployment.

Don't be afraid of imperilling your health by giving a few extra hours to the company that pays your salary!

I disagreed with Carnegie's ideas on how best to distribute his wealth. I spent mine!

American industry is spilling over with men who started life even with the leaders, with brains just as big, with hands quite as capable. And yet one man emerges from the mass, rises sheer about his fellows; and the rest remain.

Good morning! Remember: A person can succeed at almost anything for which they have unlimited enthusiasm.

Young men may enjoy dropping their work at five or six o'clock and slipping into a dress suit for an evening of pleasure; but the habit has certain drawbacks.

Work hard. Hard work is the best investment a man can make.

A woman worries about the future until she gets a husband, while a man never worries about the future until he gets a wife.

When you go into your customary barber shop, you will wait for the man who gives you a little better shave, a little trimmer hair-cut. Business leaders are looking for the same things in their offices that you look for in the barber shop.

The difference between getting somewhere and nowhere is the courage to make an early start. The fellow who sits still and does just what he is told will never be told to do big things.

We hear much of Bolshevism, much of labor unrest; at times, we hear the word 'revolution.' But these are but contagious diseases in the body of civilization, and I believe that the antitoxins of good cheer, mutual confidence, fairness and justice will ultimately cure these ills and make the world healthy and strong again.

Let us suppose you become a craneman. Suppose you become a clerk in a lawyer's office. Give the best that is in you. Let nothing stand in the way of your going on.

Men make opportunity. Every great industrial achievement has been the result of individual effort - the practical development of a dream in the mind of an individual.

I became interested, through reading the works of some novelist, in Egyptology and made a study of the pyramids. It was just a hobby, but I had a desire to know all I could about everything I could.

I have always believed that the aristocracy of any country should be the men who have succeeded - the men who have aided in upbuilding their country - the men who have contributed to the efficiency and happiness of their fellow men.

I find my greatest happiness in thinking of those days in Homestead when I labored to bring a thing to perfection entirely by myself. In the evenings, I would go into the hills and look down on my work, and I knew that it was good, and my heart was elated.

Fundamentally, the basis of all modern progress is the efficiency of labor. And the only sure road to restored prosperity is through the thrift and hard work of our people as a whole.

If you are going into any manufacturing establishment, don't go there by reason of any influence you may have. Start upon your own merits, and start in some lowly position, no matter what it is. Be a laborer, if you will. I don't know but that is the best way to start.

Here I am, a not over-good business man, a second-rate engineer. I can make poor mechanical drawings. I play the piano after a fashion. In fact, I am one of those proverbial Jack-of-all-trades who are usually failures. Why I am not, I can't tell you.

We make our own labor unions. We organize our labor into units of 300, and then the representatives of these 300 meet together every week. Then every fortnight they meet with the head men.

Labor should be recognized as entitled to consult with management in the mutual interest. Labor cannot be driven, and business cannot be successful unless the men employed in it are enthusiastic and loyal. That loyalty cannot be obtained with a big stick; it must be based upon fair dealing and sympathy.

My own idea is that if the men hold any meetings or attempt to form any organization, we should be prepared to be fully informed of all that goes on and unhesitatingly discharge any men connected with this movement. In this way, our peace will be secure for a long time, and it will be easily done if taken at the start.

The aristocracy in the future is not one of wealth or university education, but the aristocracy of the men who have done something for themselves and their fellow men.

When I first went to work... I had over me an impetuous, hustling man. It was necessary for me to be up to the top notch to give satisfaction. I worked faster than I otherwise would have done, and to him I attribute the impetus that I acquired.

The real test of business greatness is in giving opportunity to others. Many business men fail in this because they are thinking only of personal glory.

To my mind, the best investment a young man starting out in business can possibly make is to give all his time, all his energies, to work - just plain, hard work.

There is nothing a worker resents more than to see some man taking his job. A factory can be closed down, its chimneys smokeless, waiting for the worker to come back to his job, and all will be peaceful. But the moment workers are imported, and the striker sees his own place usurped, there is bound to be trouble.

Concentrate and think upon the problem in mind until a satisfactory conclusion is reached, and then finally go ahead. If you have made a mistake, all right. Never find fault with a man because he has made a mistake. It is only a fool that makes the same mistake the second time.

Did you ever stop to think that a great man in life who has won great acclaim and great reputation is the very man who is willing to share and give the honor to others in the doing of things that made him great?

The supreme need of the world is peace and good will among men. It must be peace founded upon justice and fairness, the righting of past wrong, and the securing of the future as far as possible against the evils of the past.

Our efforts must be bent in the direction of convincing the great mass of working people of this country of the necessity of our winning and retaining our place in business and commerce. That place can be won only through the workers' own efforts and through their own efficiency.

Any man who goes into anything in life and does it better than the average will have a successful life. If he does it worse than the average, his life will not be successful. And no business can exist in which success cannot be won on that basis.

Bare hands grip success better than kid gloves. Be thorough in all things, no matter how small or distasteful! The man who counts his hours and kicks about his salary is a self-elected failure.

A man will succeed in anything about which he has real enthusiasm, in which he is genuinely interested, provided that he will take more thought about his job than the men working with him. The fellow who sits still and does what he is told will never be told to do big things.

A man, to carry on a successful business, must have imagination. He must see things as in a vision, a dream of the whole thing. A man can cultivate this faculty only by an appreciation of the finer things in life.

A concern that produces its own raw materials, and works them up through the various processes until it delivers the manufactured product in the domestic or foreign market, can work on a narrower margin all around, and yet do full justice to its stockholders and employees.