Self-Help

Smiles, S.

ISBN 10: 0140091009 / ISBN 13: 9780140091007

About this Item

1986. Penguin. Soft covers. Book - Good.

Seller Inventory # 7295

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Self-Help
• ISBN 10: 0140091009
• ISBN 13: 9780140091007

About this title

Synopsis

Argues that individuals must work hard to achieve their own fulfillment, discusses the importance of perseverance, energy, and courage, and warns of the abuse of money

From the Back Cover

Who better to take inspirational advice from than a man named Smiles? But unlike the feel-good cheerleading that the term "self-help" says to us today, to Smiles it might well have been synonymous with "hard work." For this 1859 volume is dedicated to "stimulat[ing] youths to apply themselves diligently to right pursuits,--sparing neither labour, pains, nor self-denial in prosecuting them--and to rely upon their own efforts in life."

Though the author himself admits his lessons are "old-fashioned but wholesome," he nevertheless delivers stern but well-intentioned lectures on such commonsense concepts as the importance of learning from failure, how work is the best teacher, and the value of thrift, gentility, and honesty, all peppered with examples of such noble industry from the lives of writers, scientists, artists, inventors, educators, philanthropists, missionaries, and--gulp!--martyrs. It's as if all paternal wisdom had been reduced to a single book.