Andrew Carnegie Inspirational Quotations

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

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

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

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%.

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

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 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.

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

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

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

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

I resolved to stop accumulating and begin the infinitely more serious and difficult task of wise distribution.

Mr. Morgan buys his partners; I grow my own.

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

There is no class so pitiably wretched as that which possesses money and nothing else.

A sunny disposition is worth more than [a monetary] fortune. Young people should know that it can be cultivated; that the mind like the body can be moved from the shade into sunshine.

When I did big things, some large corporations like the Pennsylvania Railroad Company were behind me and responsible party.

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

The man who dies rich, dies disgraced.

The man of business knows that only by years of patient, unremitting attention to affairs can he earn his reward, which is the result, not of chance, but of well-devised means for the attainment of ends.

No man can become rich without himself enriching others

I believe that the road to pre-eminent success in any line of work is to make yourself master of that line of work.

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.

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.

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

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.