Samuel Smiles Biography

Samuel Smiles, Author
Occup.Author
FromScotland
BornDecember 23, 1812
DiedApril 16, 1904
Aged91 years
Samuel Smiles was born upon December 23, 1812, in Haddington, a town in East Lothian, Scotland. Coming from modest starts, he was the boy of Janet Wilson, a housewife, and Samuel Smiles Sr., a papermaker. Samuel Smiles was the second of eleven youngsters in his family. He matured in a moderate family that relied on effort as well as willpower to achieve success.

Despite the family members's economic constraints, Smiles obtained a good education. He attended regional institutions in Haddington and also later on took place to study medication at the University of Edinburgh. In 1832, he finished with a degree in medicine and began his clinical profession as an assistant doctor in Haddington. At some point, he transferred to Leeds to exercise medicine as a specialist from 1838 to 1842.

During his time in medication, Samuel Smiles started writing articles for numerous clinical journals. Simultaneously, he developed a passion in politics and reforms, inevitably coming to be associated with the Chartist movement. The Chartist motion was a political reform effort that intended to give working-class people more significant representation in British national politics through various adjustments, such as global male suffrage.

The transforming factor in Smiles' life came after he deserted his medical job to end up being a writer and also social agitator. In 1842, he became the assistant of the Leeds Parliamentary Reform Association, and also a couple of years later, he transitioned to journalism, functioning as the editor for the Leeds Times, a radical regular newspaper.

Throughout his time at the Leeds Times, Smiles refined his writing and research study skills, which assisted him change to compositions. His first significant job was a political biography of the British statesman George Stephenson, labelled "The Life of George Stephenson" published in 1857. Guide was very successful and noted the beginning of Samuel Smiles as a prominent author.

Nevertheless, it was Smiles' book "Self-Help" published in 1859 that cemented his credibility as a groundbreaking author. The book stressed the importance of self-improvement via knowing, effort, as well as determination for success. Although at first met some resistance, "Self-Help" ended up being a bestseller with numerous copies sold worldwide, ultimately converted right into various languages. Guide motivated an entire category of self-improvement literary works that stays prominent today.

Following the remarkable success of "Self-Help", Smiles remained to compose books as well as posts that encouraged self-direction and also self-improvement, some of that include "Character" (1871), "Thrift" (1875), and "Duty" (1880).

Throughout his life, Samuel Smiles came to be acquainted with numerous popular numbers, such as males Thomas Carlyle and John Ruskin, with whom he kept communication. He additionally held different settings, such as the assistant for the South Eastern Railway Company from 1854 to 1866. In 1868, he was granted an honorary LL.D level by the University of Edinburgh.

Samuel Smiles was married to Sarah Ann Holmes in 1843, with whom he had 6 youngsters. He invested a lot of his later life living in Kensington, London, and continued to compose and also participate in social reforms. In his later years, he encountered some personal tragedies, including the death of his oldest child and also his other half, Sarah. Despite these obstacles, he remained identified in advertising self-improvement and also effort to attain success.

Samuel Smiles passed away on April 16, 1904, at the age of 91. Today, he is kept in mind as a pioneer in the self-help style as well as a substantial number in Victorian literary works. His works remain to influence and motivate people to pursue self-improvement as well as concentrate on individual growth.

Our collection contains 30 quotes who is written / told by Samuel, under the main topic Motivational.

Related authors: Thomas Carlyle (Writer), George Stephenson (Inventor), John Ruskin (Writer), George Stephen (Businessman)

Samuel Smiles Famous Works:
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30 Famous quotes by Samuel Smiles

Small: Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us - Samuel Smiles
"Hope is like the sun, which, as we journey toward it, casts the shadow of our burden behind us"
Small: The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficult
"The work of many of the greatest men, inspired by duty, has been done amidst suffering and trial and difficulty. They have struggled against the tide, and reached the shore exhausted"
Small: Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but l
"Lost wealth may be replaced by industry, lost knowledge by study, lost health by temperance or medicine, but lost time is gone forever"
Small: It is energy - the central element of which is will - that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages
"It is energy - the central element of which is will - that produces the miracle that is enthusiasm in all ages. Everywhere it is what is called force of character and the sustaining power of all great action"
Small: The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear - Samuel Smiles
"The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear"
Small: The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual - Samuel Smiles
"The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual"
Small: Enthusiasm... the sustaining power of all great action - Samuel Smiles
"Enthusiasm... the sustaining power of all great action"
Small: We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what
"We learn wisdom from failure much more than from success. We often discover what will do, by finding out what will not do; and probably he who never made a mistake never made a discovery"
Small: The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once - Samuel Smiles
"The shortest way to do many things is to do only one thing at once"
Small: The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve - Samuel Smiles
"The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve"
Small: Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once and we must be sat
"Progress, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step"
Small: Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession - a property entirely our own - Samuel Smiles
"Knowledge conquered by labor becomes a possession - a property entirely our own"
Small: The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, o
"The very greatest things - great thoughts, discoveries, inventions - have usually been nurtured in hardship, often pondered over in sorrow, and at length established with difficulty"
Small: The duty of helping ones self in the highest sense involves the helping of ones neighbors - Samuel Smiles
"The duty of helping one's self in the highest sense involves the helping of one's neighbors"
Small: The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it wi
"The battle of life is, in most cases, fought uphill; and to win it without a struggle were perhaps to win it without honor. If there were no difficulties there would be no success; if there were nothing to struggle for, there would be nothing to be achieved"
Small: Men must necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well-doing they themselves must in the v
"Men must necessarily be the active agents of their own well-being and well-doing they themselves must in the very nature of things be their own best helpers"
Small: It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success they much oftener succeed through failures.
"It is a mistake to suppose that men succeed through success; they much oftener succeed through failures. Precept, study, advice, and example could never have taught them so well as failure has done"
Small: Im as happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me! - Samuel Smiles
"I'm as happy a man as any in the world, for the whole world seems to smile upon me!"
Small: Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough and if they do not fin
"Men who are resolved to find a way for themselves will always find opportunities enough; and if they do not find them, they will make them"
Small: Hope... is the companion of power, and the mother of success for who so hopes has within him the gift of mirac
"Hope... is the companion of power, and the mother of success; for who so hopes has within him the gift of miracles"
Small: He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery - Samuel Smiles
"He who never made a mistake, never made a discovery"
Small: An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality our desires being often but precursors of t
"An intense anticipation itself transforms possibility into reality; our desires being often but precursors of the things which we are capable of performing"
Small: A place for everything, and everything in its place - Samuel Smiles
"A place for everything, and everything in its place"
Small: The reason why so little is done, is generally because so little is attempted - Samuel Smiles
"The reason why so little is done, is generally because so little is attempted"
Small: Man cannot aspire if he looked down if he rise, he must look up - Samuel Smiles
"Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up"
Small: Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable - Samuel Smiles
"Labor is still, and ever will be, the inevitable price set upon everything which is valuable"
Small: The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning whereas the experienc
"The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but the nature of learning; whereas the experience gained from actual life is one of the nature of wisdom"
Small: Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once and we mus
"Progress however, of the best kind, is comparatively slow. Great results cannot be achieved at once; and we must be satisfied to advance in life as we walk, step by step"
Small: Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far
"Practical wisdom is only to be learned in the school of experience. Precepts and instruction are useful so far as they go, but, without the discipline of real life, they remain of the nature of theory only"
Small: Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it - Samuel Smiles
"Life will always be to a large extent what we ourselves make it"