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Self-Help (Smiles Book)
''Self-Help; with Illustrations of Character and Conduct'' is a book published in 1859 by Samuel Smiles. The second edition of 1866 added ''Perseverance'' to the subtitle. It has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism". Contents Smiles was not very successful in his careers as a doctor and journalist. He joined several cooperative ventures, but they failed for lack of capital. Disillusioned, he turned away from middle-class utopianism, and finally found intellectual refuge and national fame in the isolation of self-help. He extolled the virtues of self-help, industry, and perseverance. However, he rejected the application of ''laissez-faire'' to critical areas such as public health and education. According to historian Asa Briggs: :Self-help was one of the favorite mid-Victorian virtues. Relying on yourself was preferred morally—and economically—to depending on others. It was an expression of character even when it did not endure ... The progressive development of ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Samuel Smiles
Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904) was a British author and government reformer. Although he campaigned on a Chartist platform, he promoted the idea that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws. His primary work, ''Self-Help'' (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and ''laissez-faire'' government. It has been called "the bible of mid- Victorian liberalism" and had lasting effects on British political thought. Early life and education Born in Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland, Smiles was the son of Janet Wilson of Dalkeith and Samuel Smiles of Haddington. He was one of eleven surviving children. While his family members were strict Reformed Presbyterians, he did not practice. He studied at a local school, leaving at the age of 14. He apprenticed to be a doctor under Dr. Robert Lewins. This arrangement enabled Smiles to study medicine at the Universit ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
The Ragged Trousered Philanthropists
''The Ragged-Trousered Philanthropists'' is a 1914 semi-autobiographical novel by Ireland, Irish house painter and sign writer Robert Noonan, who wrote the book in his spare time under the pen name Robert Tressell. Published after Tressell's death from tuberculosis in the Liverpool Royal Infirmary in 1911, the novel follows a house painter's efforts to find work in the fictional English town of Mugsborough (based on the coastal town of Hastings) to stave off the workhouse for himself, his wife and his son. The original title page, drawn by Tressell, carried the subtitle: "Being the story of twelve months in Hell, told by one of the damned, and written down by Robert Tressell." Grant Richards (publishing house), Grant Richards Ltd. published about two-thirds of the manuscript in April 1914 after Tressell's daughter, Kathleen Noonan, showed her father's work to her employers. The 1914 edition not only omitted material but also moved text around and gave the novel a depressing endi ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Self-help Books
A self-help book is one that is written with the intention to instruct its readers on solving personal problems. The books take their name from '' Self-Help'', an 1859 best-seller by Samuel Smiles, but are also known and classified under "self-improvement", a term that is a modernized version of self-help. Self-help books moved from a niche position to being a postmodern cultural phenomenon in the late twentieth century. Early history Informal guides to everyday behaviour might be said to have existed almost as long as writing itself. Ancient Egyptian "Codes" of conduct "have a curiously modern note: 'You trail from street to street, smelling of beer...like a broken rudder, good for nothing....you have been found performing acrobatics on a wall!. Micki McGee writes: "Some social observers have suggested that the Bible is perhaps the first and most significant of self-help books". In classical Rome, Cicero's '' On Friendship'' and '' On Duties'' became "handbooks and guides.. ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
1859 Non-fiction Books
Events January–March * January 21 – José Mariano Salas (1797–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * January 24 (Old Style and New Style dates, O. S.) – Under the rule of Alexandru Ioan Cuza, the provinces of Wallachia and Moldavia are united under the jurisdiction of the Ottoman Empire. It would be a principal step in forming the modern state of Romania. * January 28 – The city of Olympia, Washington, Olympia is incorporated in the Washington Territory of the United States of America. * February 2 – Miguel Miramón (1832–1867) becomes Conservative interim President of Mexico. * February 4 – German scholar Constantin von Tischendorf rediscovers the ''Codex Sinaiticus'', a 4th-century Uncial script, uncial manuscript of the Koine Greek, Greek Bible, in Saint Catherine's Monastery on the foot of Mount Sinai, in the Khedivate of Egypt and arranges for its presentation to his patron, Tsar Alexander II of Russia at Saint Petersburg. * February ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
