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Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son Being the Letters written by John Graham, Head of the House of Graham & Company, Pork-Packers in Chicago, ... known to his intimates as "Piggy."
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185 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1902
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About the author
George Horace Lorimer
73 books20 followersGeorge Horace Lorimer (October 6, 1867 – October 22, 1937) was an American journalist and author. He is best known as the editor of The Saturday Evening Post. During his editorial reign, the Post rose from a circulation of several thousand to over a million. He is credited with promoting or discovering a large number of American writers, e.g. Jack London.
Lorimer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of the Rev. George C. Lorimer and Belle Burford Lorimer. He attended Moseley High School in Chicago, Colby College, and Yale University. In 1899 he became editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post, and remained in charge until the last day of 1936, about a year before his death from throat cancer. He served also as vice president, president, and chairman of Curtis Publishing Company, which published the Post.
Lorimer was born in Louisville, Kentucky, the son of the Rev. George C. Lorimer and Belle Burford Lorimer. He attended Moseley High School in Chicago, Colby College, and Yale University. In 1899 he became editor-in-chief of The Saturday Evening Post, and remained in charge until the last day of 1936, about a year before his death from throat cancer. He served also as vice president, president, and chairman of Curtis Publishing Company, which published the Post.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 176 reviews
June 22, 2012
This book is the preserved correspondence between Old Gorgon Graham, a self-made millionaire in Chicago, and his son who is coming of age and entering the family business. The letters date back to the 1890s but feel like they could have been written in any era. They are surprisingly stoic. Honest. Genuine. Packed with good advice. Normally these types of books are unreadably boring and personal. My version has only Graham's letters and none from his son so there is only one voice, one perspective to follow. It gives the book a sense of narrative and flow that most books of letters lack (for which they suffer).
One of my favorite parts is where Graham suggests that history should be taught backwards because most people never make it up to the present. I had a history teacher do this for one class in high school and it's still the only formal education I've had on some of those subjects. I've since had plenty of time to go back and get caught up with what happened in the few thousand years prior. The book is in the public domain - I've never even heard it mentioned outside of Joseph Epstein's Ambition (which is also good) - but is by far my favorite book of the year.
One of my favorite parts is where Graham suggests that history should be taught backwards because most people never make it up to the present. I had a history teacher do this for one class in high school and it's still the only formal education I've had on some of those subjects. I've since had plenty of time to go back and get caught up with what happened in the few thousand years prior. The book is in the public domain - I've never even heard it mentioned outside of Joseph Epstein's Ambition (which is also good) - but is by far my favorite book of the year.
January 15, 2013
Recommended reading for any male over 14. Excellent reading for 2 reasons:
1) the advice is very good
2) it is hilarious.
"You can trust a woman's taste on everything except men; and it's mighty lucky that she slips up there or we'd pretty nigh all be bachelors."
"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."
"With most people happiness is something that is always just a day off. But I have made it a rule never to put off being happy till to-morrow. Don't accept notes for happiness, because you'll find that when they're due they're never paid, but just renewed for another thirty days."
If that's not gold I don't know what is.
Also, it's old enough to find free PDFs all over the place. So download one and read it on your kindle.
1) the advice is very good
2) it is hilarious.
"You can trust a woman's taste on everything except men; and it's mighty lucky that she slips up there or we'd pretty nigh all be bachelors."
"You've got to get up every morning with determination if you're going to go to bed with satisfaction."
"With most people happiness is something that is always just a day off. But I have made it a rule never to put off being happy till to-morrow. Don't accept notes for happiness, because you'll find that when they're due they're never paid, but just renewed for another thirty days."
If that's not gold I don't know what is.
Also, it's old enough to find free PDFs all over the place. So download one and read it on your kindle.
November 4, 2024
" الفقر لا يفسد الرجل الصالح ابدا ، اما السعة فكثيرا ما تفعل . و تَحمل أيام العسر سهل ، لأنه الأختيار الوحيد ، و لكن مقاومة الحماقة في أوقات اليُسر أصعب "
" أن رد الفعل الطبيعي لأي مُهر يُساق إلى عربة هو ان يرفس قليلا ، و دائما ما يُداخلني الشك في أي مخلوق يقف ساكنا أكثر من اللازم حين تنهال السياط على ظهره . إذ أعرف أن ما أُحاربه فيه ليس الخنوع ، و إنما الوضاعة، و من الصعب أن أُحدد أي الأمرين أسوأ "
" ما تعرفه يُعد عصا في يديك ، و ما لا تعرفه يُعدُّ خنجرا في يد الآخرين ضدك "
" لا أعرف شيئاً أجدر بأي رجل أعمال أن يحتفظ به لنفسه أكثر من آرائه السلبية فيمن لا يعجبه أمرهم ، إلا لو كانت آراؤه تلك إيجابية . أن الاحتفاظ بأي منهما في نفسك له كلفة غالية ، غير ان التعبير عنها إفلاس "
" أن الظهور بمظهر الحكيم أسهل من التحدث بالحكمة . و أنت تتحدث إلى شخص آخر ، استمع أكثر مما تتكلم ؛ ذلك لأن الرجل المصغي لا يكشف عن أسراره ، و في نفس الوقت هو يُطري على مُحدثه "
" أريدك أن تتعلم من البداية ألا تعبث مع الملعقة قبل أن تتجرع الدواء ، و أن تعرف ان تأجيل أمر سهل يجعله صعبا، و تأجيل أمر صعب يجعله مستحيلا "
" لن تصنع من نفسك تاجرا ناجحا ابدا إذا عكست النهج الذي أمرنا الرب أن نتبعه في تسيير أمور حياتنا ؛ ألا و هو ان نتعلم اولا كيف نكسب المال قبل ان نتعلم كيف ننفقه "
" أريد أن أؤكد لك أن أكثر البشر وضاعة هو السخي بمال لم يَكدُ لكسبه "
" أن التعليم هو الشيء الوحيد تقريبا المُتاح بلا قيود ، و هو الشيء الوحيد تقريبا الذي يمكن للمرء أن يحظى منه بقدر ما يجد في نفسه استعدادا لأن يغتنم منه . و كل ما عداه لا يُعد موفورا مثله "
مجموعة من الرسائل التي يحاول من خلالها أب ان يحمي ولده من متغيرات و مشاكل الحياة و يُحللها الأب من خلال خبرته يُسعفه في ذلك مواقف مشابهة مر بها بنفسه أو مر بها غيره ...
تتخلل هذه الرسائل العديد من المواقف الطريفة احيانا ، و بغض النظر عن قسوة الأب في بعض تلك المواقف و موقفي من عمله غير المشروع في ديننا الحنيف و بعض آرائه الا أنه كان محقا في مواقف معينة ...
كنت أتمنى أن أرى ردود الأبن أو رسائله التي جاءت رسائل والده في هذا الكتاب على أثرها و ردا عليها ، لكان اتضح الأمر بشكل أكثر ، صحيح أن بعض أفكاره تتضح من كتابات والده عنه الا أنه لا يمكن الاستدلال على فكر احدهم من كلام الغير عنه حتى لو كان ذلك الغير أبيه، و لكان اتضح لنا فكر جيلين ،جيل كد و تعب و جيل يريد الاستمتاع و يظن ان في ذلك حق مشروع له ، و بين هذين الجيلين نجد الحياة ...
" أن رد الفعل الطبيعي لأي مُهر يُساق إلى عربة هو ان يرفس قليلا ، و دائما ما يُداخلني الشك في أي مخلوق يقف ساكنا أكثر من اللازم حين تنهال السياط على ظهره . إذ أعرف أن ما أُحاربه فيه ليس الخنوع ، و إنما الوضاعة، و من الصعب أن أُحدد أي الأمرين أسوأ "
" ما تعرفه يُعد عصا في يديك ، و ما لا تعرفه يُعدُّ خنجرا في يد الآخرين ضدك "
" لا أعرف شيئاً أجدر بأي رجل أعمال أن يحتفظ به لنفسه أكثر من آرائه السلبية فيمن لا يعجبه أمرهم ، إلا لو كانت آراؤه تلك إيجابية . أن الاحتفاظ بأي منهما في نفسك له كلفة غالية ، غير ان التعبير عنها إفلاس "
" أن الظهور بمظهر الحكيم أسهل من التحدث بالحكمة . و أنت تتحدث إلى شخص آخر ، استمع أكثر مما تتكلم ؛ ذلك لأن الرجل المصغي لا يكشف عن أسراره ، و في نفس الوقت هو يُطري على مُحدثه "
" أريدك أن تتعلم من البداية ألا تعبث مع الملعقة قبل أن تتجرع الدواء ، و أن تعرف ان تأجيل أمر سهل يجعله صعبا، و تأجيل أمر صعب يجعله مستحيلا "
" لن تصنع من نفسك تاجرا ناجحا ابدا إذا عكست النهج الذي أمرنا الرب أن نتبعه في تسيير أمور حياتنا ؛ ألا و هو ان نتعلم اولا كيف نكسب المال قبل ان نتعلم كيف ننفقه "
" أريد أن أؤكد لك أن أكثر البشر وضاعة هو السخي بمال لم يَكدُ لكسبه "
" أن التعليم هو الشيء الوحيد تقريبا المُتاح بلا قيود ، و هو الشيء الوحيد تقريبا الذي يمكن للمرء أن يحظى منه بقدر ما يجد في نفسه استعدادا لأن يغتنم منه . و كل ما عداه لا يُعد موفورا مثله "
مجموعة من الرسائل التي يحاول من خلالها أب ان يحمي ولده من متغيرات و مشاكل الحياة و يُحللها الأب من خلال خبرته يُسعفه في ذلك مواقف مشابهة مر بها بنفسه أو مر بها غيره ...
تتخلل هذه الرسائل العديد من المواقف الطريفة احيانا ، و بغض النظر عن قسوة الأب في بعض تلك المواقف و موقفي من عمله غير المشروع في ديننا الحنيف و بعض آرائه الا أنه كان محقا في مواقف معينة ...
كنت أتمنى أن أرى ردود الأبن أو رسائله التي جاءت رسائل والده في هذا الكتاب على أثرها و ردا عليها ، لكان اتضح الأمر بشكل أكثر ، صحيح أن بعض أفكاره تتضح من كتابات والده عنه الا أنه لا يمكن الاستدلال على فكر احدهم من كلام الغير عنه حتى لو كان ذلك الغير أبيه، و لكان اتضح لنا فكر جيلين ،جيل كد و تعب و جيل يريد الاستمتاع و يظن ان في ذلك حق مشروع له ، و بين هذين الجيلين نجد الحياة ...
March 19, 2015
I thought this was a real life correspondence between John Graham and his son "Piggy", and was curious what has happened to House of Graham & Company. If it was such good advice surely the firm would have prospered or was it a case of from shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves in three generations (or as the Chinese proverb goes 富不过三代).
I then realised that this was a work of fiction by American journalist George Lorimer rather than a edited excerpts of correspondence. Written in 1901 and reflecting the verbose language of that time, the letters can be hard to read at times but ultimately delivers hard nosed and sound business advise.
The blogpost Airows condensed 28 of their favourite quotes from this book:
http://airows.com/28-life-lessons-19t...
It's a short book (76 pg), so could be worth reading to have a laugh at some of the funny stories and absorb the fanatical business obsession of the workaholic head of Graham & Co.
Book can be read for free here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21959/...
I then realised that this was a work of fiction by American journalist George Lorimer rather than a edited excerpts of correspondence. Written in 1901 and reflecting the verbose language of that time, the letters can be hard to read at times but ultimately delivers hard nosed and sound business advise.
The blogpost Airows condensed 28 of their favourite quotes from this book:
http://airows.com/28-life-lessons-19t...
It's a short book (76 pg), so could be worth reading to have a laugh at some of the funny stories and absorb the fanatical business obsession of the workaholic head of Graham & Co.
Book can be read for free here:
http://www.gutenberg.org/files/21959/...
May 28, 2017
Some very powerful notes, you rarely come across such first hand notes about basics of building a business. However, most of the stories the writer came up with seemed just eloquent ways to deny his son from doing what he wanted.
September 15, 2017
Every page contains at least one nugget of gold wrapped in old-world (and sometimes sexist), down-to-earth charm. Here are just a few:
- Education is everywhere, free for the taking. Haul away every drop you can for everything else is screwed down tight.
- The core of anything must be sound. If the core of a pig is no good, no amount of seasoning will fix it.
- Sound conscience over gap-less knowledge.
- "Education can make you a scholar, while [time with the boys] can make you a man."
- Knowing is one thing. Knowing how to use knowledge is another.
- Speaking of young men: "Some of them think that recklessness with money brands them as good fellows, and that carefulness is meanness."
- Learn the pain of making a dollar. The meanest of men are those who are generous with money, but never had to suffer for it.
- Learning from books or life. Theory vs practice. Both are narrow. Know enough practice to test theories to shove ahead.
- Understand the job. Master it. Then get lazy and find ways to make yourself obsolete through systems of automation.
- "It's not what a man does during working hours, but after them, that breaks down his health. A fellow and his business should be bosom friends in the office and sworn enemies out of it."
- The three rules of business conversation are:
1. Have something to say
2. Say it
3. Stop talking
- "Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a shortcut to the second."
- "Business is like oil - it won't mix with anything but business."
- No matter what, you'll have a boss of some sort over you. Others care what you boss thinks of you, rather than what you think of your boss.
- If a man comes looking for a job and starts by telling you how mean their previous employer was, how poor management was, he will think the same of you.
-"As you begin to meet the men who have done something that makes them worth meeting you will find that there are no 'keep of the grass' or 'beware of the dog' signs around their premises, and that they don't motion to the orchestra to play slow music while they talk."
- The easiest way to make enemies is to hire friends.
- Some people have "a heart like a stock-ticker - it doesn't beat over anything except money."
- On irresponsibly spending money: "there's no fool like a young fool, because in the nature of things he's got a long time to live."
- On marriage: "While a young fellow will consult his father about buying a horse, he's cock-sure of himself when it comes to picking a wife. Marriages may be made in heaven, but most engagements are made in the back parlor with the gas so low that a fellow doesn't really get a square look at what he's taking. While a man doesn't see much of a girl's family when he's courting, he's apt to see a good deal of it when he's housekeeping."
- Unless it's hard to believe, some people won't believe it's worth believing.
- On thinking oneself important, especially in business affairs: "Repartee makes reading lively, but business dull."
- People will sell things like they're pork, But in business you have to ignore the joke and see things for what they are. If a man is overselling a dog, giving you a story why he must sell it and why it's such a good deal, you know that you must look at the thing being sold for what it is.
- On selling and the right customer: "Real buyers ain't interested in much besides your goods and your prices. Never run down your competitor's brand to then, and never let them run down yours. Don't get on your knees for business, but don't hold your nose so high in the air that an order can travel under it without you seeing it. You'll meet a good many people in the road that you won't like, but the house needs their business."
- Adjust for your market. Sell clothes in the cities where people have plenty. Pork to the people in the country where they keep hogs.
- On effort: "If there's one piece of knowledge that is if less use to a fellow knowing when he's beat, it's knowing when he's done just enough work to keep from being fired."
- "If there's anything worse than knowing too little, it's knowing too much. Education will broaden a narrow mind, but there's no cure for a big head. The best you can hope is that it will swell up and burst; and then, of course, there's nothing left."
- There are two unpardonable sins: success and failure. Those who fail will question those who succeed, and those who succeed will look down upon those who fail.
- What you bring to a job says more and does more for you than anything. Enthusiasm makes work easy.
- One may envy their boss because their job looks easy. But this is far from the case. "He's like the fellow on the right-rope - there's plenty of scenery under him and lots of room around him, but he's got to keep his feet on the wire all the time and gravel straight ahead."
- Hire slow. Fire fast. Finding the right employees worth the extra time for a bad employee "is like a splinter in the thumb - a center of soreness."
- "Life isn't a spurt, but a long, steady climb. You can't run up a hill without stopping to sit down. Some men do a days work and then spend six lolling around admiring it."
- "I've heard a good deal in my time about the foolishness of hens, but when it comes to right-down, plum foolishness, give me a rooster, every time. He's always strutting and stretching and crowing and bragging about things in which he had nothing to do. When the sun rises, you'd think that he was making all the light, instead of all the noise. But when you hear from a hen, she's laid an egg, and she doesn't make a great deal of noise about it, either."
- "Some fellows propose to a girl before they know whether her front and her back hair match, and then holler that they're stuck when they find she's got a cork leg and a glass eye as well." "But the really valuable thing to know is how she approaches ham and eggs at seven A.M., and whether she rings he complexion with her to the breakfast table."
- "Of course, when you're patting and petting and feeding a woman she's going to purr, but there's nothing like stirring her up a little now and then to see if she spits fire and heaves things when she's mad."
- Never put off happiness.
- Education is everywhere, free for the taking. Haul away every drop you can for everything else is screwed down tight.
- The core of anything must be sound. If the core of a pig is no good, no amount of seasoning will fix it.
- Sound conscience over gap-less knowledge.
- "Education can make you a scholar, while [time with the boys] can make you a man."
- Knowing is one thing. Knowing how to use knowledge is another.
- Speaking of young men: "Some of them think that recklessness with money brands them as good fellows, and that carefulness is meanness."
- Learn the pain of making a dollar. The meanest of men are those who are generous with money, but never had to suffer for it.
- Learning from books or life. Theory vs practice. Both are narrow. Know enough practice to test theories to shove ahead.
- Understand the job. Master it. Then get lazy and find ways to make yourself obsolete through systems of automation.
- "It's not what a man does during working hours, but after them, that breaks down his health. A fellow and his business should be bosom friends in the office and sworn enemies out of it."
- The three rules of business conversation are:
1. Have something to say
2. Say it
3. Stop talking
- "Beginning before you know what you want to say and keeping on after you have said it lands a merchant in a lawsuit or the poorhouse, and the first is a shortcut to the second."
- "Business is like oil - it won't mix with anything but business."
- No matter what, you'll have a boss of some sort over you. Others care what you boss thinks of you, rather than what you think of your boss.
- If a man comes looking for a job and starts by telling you how mean their previous employer was, how poor management was, he will think the same of you.
-"As you begin to meet the men who have done something that makes them worth meeting you will find that there are no 'keep of the grass' or 'beware of the dog' signs around their premises, and that they don't motion to the orchestra to play slow music while they talk."
- The easiest way to make enemies is to hire friends.
- Some people have "a heart like a stock-ticker - it doesn't beat over anything except money."
- On irresponsibly spending money: "there's no fool like a young fool, because in the nature of things he's got a long time to live."
- On marriage: "While a young fellow will consult his father about buying a horse, he's cock-sure of himself when it comes to picking a wife. Marriages may be made in heaven, but most engagements are made in the back parlor with the gas so low that a fellow doesn't really get a square look at what he's taking. While a man doesn't see much of a girl's family when he's courting, he's apt to see a good deal of it when he's housekeeping."
- Unless it's hard to believe, some people won't believe it's worth believing.
- On thinking oneself important, especially in business affairs: "Repartee makes reading lively, but business dull."
- People will sell things like they're pork, But in business you have to ignore the joke and see things for what they are. If a man is overselling a dog, giving you a story why he must sell it and why it's such a good deal, you know that you must look at the thing being sold for what it is.
- On selling and the right customer: "Real buyers ain't interested in much besides your goods and your prices. Never run down your competitor's brand to then, and never let them run down yours. Don't get on your knees for business, but don't hold your nose so high in the air that an order can travel under it without you seeing it. You'll meet a good many people in the road that you won't like, but the house needs their business."
- Adjust for your market. Sell clothes in the cities where people have plenty. Pork to the people in the country where they keep hogs.
- On effort: "If there's one piece of knowledge that is if less use to a fellow knowing when he's beat, it's knowing when he's done just enough work to keep from being fired."
- "If there's anything worse than knowing too little, it's knowing too much. Education will broaden a narrow mind, but there's no cure for a big head. The best you can hope is that it will swell up and burst; and then, of course, there's nothing left."
- There are two unpardonable sins: success and failure. Those who fail will question those who succeed, and those who succeed will look down upon those who fail.
- What you bring to a job says more and does more for you than anything. Enthusiasm makes work easy.
- One may envy their boss because their job looks easy. But this is far from the case. "He's like the fellow on the right-rope - there's plenty of scenery under him and lots of room around him, but he's got to keep his feet on the wire all the time and gravel straight ahead."
- Hire slow. Fire fast. Finding the right employees worth the extra time for a bad employee "is like a splinter in the thumb - a center of soreness."
- "Life isn't a spurt, but a long, steady climb. You can't run up a hill without stopping to sit down. Some men do a days work and then spend six lolling around admiring it."
- "I've heard a good deal in my time about the foolishness of hens, but when it comes to right-down, plum foolishness, give me a rooster, every time. He's always strutting and stretching and crowing and bragging about things in which he had nothing to do. When the sun rises, you'd think that he was making all the light, instead of all the noise. But when you hear from a hen, she's laid an egg, and she doesn't make a great deal of noise about it, either."
- "Some fellows propose to a girl before they know whether her front and her back hair match, and then holler that they're stuck when they find she's got a cork leg and a glass eye as well." "But the really valuable thing to know is how she approaches ham and eggs at seven A.M., and whether she rings he complexion with her to the breakfast table."
- "Of course, when you're patting and petting and feeding a woman she's going to purr, but there's nothing like stirring her up a little now and then to see if she spits fire and heaves things when she's mad."
- Never put off happiness.
August 28, 2023
I was torn between four and five stars while rating this book, but eventually I settled on four because it was not perfect.
The book is a compilation of letters sent from a millionaire father to his young son, who is coming of age and entering the family business. The letters are funny, honest, and filled to the brim with good advice.
As I stated earlier though, the book is not perfect and some of the advice has not aged well with time. Nevertheless I still recommend this book wholeheartedly for an easy and enjoyable read.
The book is a compilation of letters sent from a millionaire father to his young son, who is coming of age and entering the family business. The letters are funny, honest, and filled to the brim with good advice.
As I stated earlier though, the book is not perfect and some of the advice has not aged well with time. Nevertheless I still recommend this book wholeheartedly for an easy and enjoyable read.
November 16, 2024
The book is a collection of letters from a businessman father to his son. The letters are from when he is studying in some college up to the day he finds a girl of his liking. It was really good book. The highlights of the book include obvious worries from his father and life lessons which we can relate. The father conveys subtle but important pieces of wisdom which the father has earned over the years as a business man.
The language used is sometimes quite hard to understand which slows down your reading and then there are some sentences which are as simple as they get but they'll make you stop and read again. To quote" No man can ask more than he gives. A fellow who can't take orders can't give them.... I don't mean by this that you ever want to drive your men, because the leash always leaves its worst soreness under the skin."
The journey of the kid from being a starter at his own fathers business to being a head of a department is what we see in the book. There are a lot more things I can quote here than a simple review can handle but just drive home my point I will write another. "Most men thing that they can figure up all their assets in dollars and cents, but a merchant may owe s hundred a hundred thousand dollars and be solvent. A man's got to lose more than money to be broke.
All in all a simple yet brilliant read. A book which can be passed on to generations ahead. Timeless wisdom to be precise.
The language used is sometimes quite hard to understand which slows down your reading and then there are some sentences which are as simple as they get but they'll make you stop and read again. To quote" No man can ask more than he gives. A fellow who can't take orders can't give them.... I don't mean by this that you ever want to drive your men, because the leash always leaves its worst soreness under the skin."
The journey of the kid from being a starter at his own fathers business to being a head of a department is what we see in the book. There are a lot more things I can quote here than a simple review can handle but just drive home my point I will write another. "Most men thing that they can figure up all their assets in dollars and cents, but a merchant may owe s hundred a hundred thousand dollars and be solvent. A man's got to lose more than money to be broke.
All in all a simple yet brilliant read. A book which can be passed on to generations ahead. Timeless wisdom to be precise.
September 1, 2013
This is book is excellent. I found it for free on the Project Gutenberg website and I'm glad I downloaded it.
John Graham or "Old Gorgon Graham" was a self-made millionaire merchant for the House of Graham & Company in Chicago and this book contains letters he wrote to his son Pierrepont at certain stages of his son's life (college life, work life, marriage). The letters were primarily written to Pierrepont as he was entering his father's business. The letters are from 1890 and I'm surprised how relevant Graham's words are today. He gives his son such sound advice that I wish my father gave me. I'm going take notes on this book to reflect on Graham's words and see where I can apply it. Also the metaphors Graham uses further emphasizes the key points in his letters that he wanted to son to fully understand and never forget.
I highly recommend this book to a young man just starting out his college life or his own business or even considering marriage. Graham's advice is honest, genuine, and sound advice to think about in your day to day life.
John Graham or "Old Gorgon Graham" was a self-made millionaire merchant for the House of Graham & Company in Chicago and this book contains letters he wrote to his son Pierrepont at certain stages of his son's life (college life, work life, marriage). The letters were primarily written to Pierrepont as he was entering his father's business. The letters are from 1890 and I'm surprised how relevant Graham's words are today. He gives his son such sound advice that I wish my father gave me. I'm going take notes on this book to reflect on Graham's words and see where I can apply it. Also the metaphors Graham uses further emphasizes the key points in his letters that he wanted to son to fully understand and never forget.
I highly recommend this book to a young man just starting out his college life or his own business or even considering marriage. Graham's advice is honest, genuine, and sound advice to think about in your day to day life.
February 5, 2017
Didn't really like the old man's point of view, it's outdated, racist and he might be wealthy, but he is very poor in his heart. His thought of helping his son grow is to throw him out in the world and see if he swims. That's one way of doing it, but not one I agree with and very old. It had some peaces of advice you could take from it, so i gave 2 stars for that.
November 8, 2019
Simple but timeless advice for any person young or old
This is a series of letters from a father writing to his son as he is going through college and needs a bit of good, stern advice to get him through the transition of youth and into adulthood. While it was written over 100 years ago it is just as apt today as it was then for anyone in general.
This is a series of letters from a father writing to his son as he is going through college and needs a bit of good, stern advice to get him through the transition of youth and into adulthood. While it was written over 100 years ago it is just as apt today as it was then for anyone in general.
March 21, 2016
The merchant seems like someone unfit to offer advice. He seems to advocate the accumulation of wealth at any cost. That combined with his proclivity towards ranting make this a repulsive book for me.
September 7, 2013
Some of the best advice I've found in any book. And it's the funniest book I've read this year. Also written in 1903 and free.
May 12, 2014
Life simply penned into words...
November 20, 2016
Funny, and filled with solid knowledge about life, work, relationships and being an adult.
March 21, 2018
First published in 1902 and written by Kentucky journalist George Horace Lorimer, this is a series of fictional letters from the 'self-made' owner of a meat-packing business (John Graham) to his son (Pierrepont). The letters, which start at the point that Pierrepont goes off to university, dispense fatherly advice as his studies and (later) career in the family firm steadily progress.
This is only 76 pages long, yet is packed with quotable lines that could have been lifted from any number of self-help books written in 2018, let alone 1902. “Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible.” “The easiest way in the world to make enemies is to hire friends.” “I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought; but it's been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought.” “What was the use of being a nob if a fellow wasn’t the nobbiest sort of a nob?”
The gender politics is very uncomfortably 1902 - "I like a woman’s ways too much at home to care very much for them at the office. Instead of hiring women, I try to hire their husbands." - as is the casual racism - "Business is a good deal like a nigger’s wool—it doesn’t look very deep, but there are a heap of kinks and curves in it." - but otherwise, it's astonishing how little good advice has changed in the last century.
I really enjoyed this, and suspect I'll return to it again in future.
This is only 76 pages long, yet is packed with quotable lines that could have been lifted from any number of self-help books written in 2018, let alone 1902. “Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible.” “The easiest way in the world to make enemies is to hire friends.” “I remember reading once that some fellows use language to conceal thought; but it's been my experience that a good many more use it instead of thought.” “What was the use of being a nob if a fellow wasn’t the nobbiest sort of a nob?”
The gender politics is very uncomfortably 1902 - "I like a woman’s ways too much at home to care very much for them at the office. Instead of hiring women, I try to hire their husbands." - as is the casual racism - "Business is a good deal like a nigger’s wool—it doesn’t look very deep, but there are a heap of kinks and curves in it." - but otherwise, it's astonishing how little good advice has changed in the last century.
I really enjoyed this, and suspect I'll return to it again in future.
January 6, 2024
This fictional correspondence, comprised of letters written by a father to his son, was published by the Saturday Evening Post at the turn of the century. It is comprised of the same folksy wisdom one might read in an Old Farmer’s Almanac.
The letters, dated from the 1890’s, can be difficult to read. Their author is the sort of man who likes to hear his own voice - and evidently does not follow his own advice about keeping communications concise. He is adept at pointing out flaws in his son and most of the characters who comprise his anecdotes. Suffice it to say this charm wears thin at the end, and I can’t help but pity the man at the receiving end of these letters, who maintains a dependent professional relationship with his father. More than anything else, this series is a reminder of why many sons choose to go their own way.
The final letter is about why having women in the workplace is a bad idea. So it hasn’t aged well either.
The letters, dated from the 1890’s, can be difficult to read. Their author is the sort of man who likes to hear his own voice - and evidently does not follow his own advice about keeping communications concise. He is adept at pointing out flaws in his son and most of the characters who comprise his anecdotes. Suffice it to say this charm wears thin at the end, and I can’t help but pity the man at the receiving end of these letters, who maintains a dependent professional relationship with his father. More than anything else, this series is a reminder of why many sons choose to go their own way.
The final letter is about why having women in the workplace is a bad idea. So it hasn’t aged well either.
June 26, 2019
A thoroughly entertaining read with a lot of life lessons. Reading these letters makes me feel like I am sitting around the fire-side with my grandfather and his sharing his life-lessons which are deeply insightful in some cases and politically inappropriate in other cases. I strongly recommend it to anyone who wants this fatherly advice.
Read
July 23, 2022DNF - I got through 2.5 of the letters, and although there was some wisdom to be found I did not find it compelling enough to continue (which is saying something, as its a short book). More importantly, I had trouble dealing with some of the racist language used. I know that it is a reflection of the time etc, but I could not really get around it.
January 4, 2026
People do not change over 100+ years, our issues are similar, just different window dressing. The father warns his son of common-sense lessons that are timeless for business, growth, and becoming a man. A quick, easy, and important read for anyone who seems rudderless on life.
January 2, 2024
Some of the language and terminology is a little dated, but the content and message of this book are timeless. Every father should read this.
February 15, 2018
Review:
Timeless wisdom. A very good read.
Extracts-
Does a College education pay? You bet it pays. Anything that trains a boy to think and to think quick pays; anything that teaches a boy to get the answer before the other fellow gets through biting the pencil, pays.
It isn’t so much knowing a whole lot, as knowing a little and how to use it that counts.
I can’t hand out any ready-made success to you. It would do you no good, and it would do the house harm. There is plenty of room at the top here, but there is no elevator in the building. Starting, as you do, with a good education, you should be able to climb quicker than the fellow who hasn’t got it; but there’s going to be a time when you begin at the factory when you won’t be able to lick stamps so fast as the other boys at the desk. Yet the man who hasn’t licked stamps isn’t fit to write letters. Naturally, that is the time when knowing whether the pie comes before the ice-cream, and how to run an automobile isn’t going to be of any real use to you.
If your ambition runs to hunching up all week over a desk, to earn eight dollars to blow on a few rounds of drinks for the boys on Saturday night, there is no objection to your gratifying it; for I will know that the Lord didn’t intend you to be your own boss.
I’ve always made it a rule to buy brains, and I’ve learned now that the better trained they are the faster they find reasons for getting their salaries raised. The fellow who hasn’t had the training may be just as smart, but he’s apt to paw the air when he’s reaching for ideas.
It’s not what a man does during working-hours, but after them, that breaks down his health. A fellow and his business should be bosom friends in the office and sworn enemies out of it. A clear mind is one that is swept clean of business at six o’clock every night and isn’t opened up for it again until after the shutters are taken down next morning.
You will always find it a safe rule to take a thing just as quick as it is offered— especially a job. It is never easy to get one except when you don’t want it; but when you have to get work, and go after it with a gun, you’ll find it as shy as an old crow that every farmer in the county has had a shot at.
There is one excuse for every mistake a man can make, but only one. When a fellow makes the same mistake twice he’s got to throw up both hands and own up to carelessness or cussedness.
A business man’s conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are:
- Have something to say.
- Say it.
- Stop talking.
You’ve got to preach short sermons to catch sinners; and deacons won’t believe they need long ones themselves. Give fools the first and women the last word. The meat’s always in the middle of the sandwich. Of course, a little butter on either side of it doesn’t do any harm if it’s intended for a man who likes butter.
A man’s got to keep company a long time, and come early and stay late and sit close, before he can get a girl or a job worth having. There’s nothing comes without calling in this world, and after you’ve called you’ve generally got to go and fetch it yourself.
Boys are constantly writing me for advice about how to succeed, and when I send them my receipt they say that I am dealing out commonplace generalities. Of course I am, but that’s what the receipt calls for, and if a boy will take these commonplace generalities and knead them into his job, the mixture’ll be cake.
Criticism can properly come only from above, and whenever you discover that your boss is no good you may rest easy that the man who pays his salary shares your secret. Remember that when you’re in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and that when you’re in the wrong you can’t afford to lose it.
- He reckoned that the only really safe way to approach a mule was to drop on it from a balloon.
- For he’s one of those men that never show any real enthusiasm except when they’re cussing.
Loyalty- It is the one commodity that hasn’t any market value, and it’s the one that you can’t pay too much for.You can trust any number of men with your money, but mighty few with your reputation.
Superiority makes every man feel its equal. It is courtesy without condescension; affability without familiarity; self-sufficiency without selfishness; simplicity without snide.
I have always found that, whenever I thought a heap of anything I owned, there was nothing like getting the other fellow’s views
expressed in figures; and the other fellow is usually a pessimist when he’s buying.
The only way to show a fellow that he’s chosen the wrong business is to let him try it. If it really is the wrong thing you won’t have to argue with him to quit,
The easiest way in the world to make enemies is to hire friends.
While a man doesn’t see much of a girl’s family when he’s courting, he’s apt to see a good deal of it when he’s housekeeping; and while he doesn’t marry his wife’s father, there’s nothing in the marriage vow to prevent the old man from borrowing money of him,
Never marry a poor girl who’s been raised like a rich one. She’s simply traded the virtues of the poor for the vices of the rich without going long on their good points. To marry for money or to marry without money is a crime. There’s no real objection to marrying a woman with a fortune, but there is to marrying a fortune with a woman
You can trust a woman’s taste on everything except men; and it’s mighty lucky that she slips up there or we’d pretty nigh all be bachelors. I might add that you can’t trust a man’s taste on women, either, and that’s pretty lucky, too, because there are a good many old maids in the world as it is.
Marrying the wrong girl is the one mistake that you’ve got to live with all your life.
There’s nothing in the world sicker-looking than the grin of the man who’s trying to join in heartily when the laugh’s on him, and to pretend that he likes it.
A real salesman is one-part talk and nine-parts judgment; and he uses the nine-parts of judgment to tell when to use the one-part of talk. Real buyers ain’t interested in much besides your goods and your prices. Never run down your competitor’s brand to them, and never let them run down yours. Don’t get on your knees for business, but don’t hold your nose so high in the air that an order can travel under it without your seeing it. You’ll meet a good many people on the road that you won’t like, but the house needs their business.
That is why when a fellow comes to me for advice about moving to a new country, where there are more opportunities, I advise him—if he is built right—to go to an old city where there is more money.
It looks to me as if you were trying only half as hard as you could, and in trying it’s the second half that brings results.
The man who invests in more knowledge of the business than he has to have in order to hold his job has capital with which to buy a mortgage on a better one. It has been my experience that when a fellow has that half knowledge he finds it’s the other half which would really come in handy. So, when a man’s in the selling end of the business what he really needs to know is the manufacturing end; and when he’s in the factory he can’t know too much about the trade.
A man who knows his own business thoroughly will find an opportunity sooner or later of reaching the most hardened cuss of a buyer on his route and of getting a share of his. I want to caution you right here against learning all there is to know about pork packing too quick. Business is a good deal like a nigger’s wool—it doesn’t look very deep, but there are a heap of kinks and curves in it. The great trouble with most young fellows is that they think they have learned all they need to know and have given the audience its money’s worth when they can keep the glass balls going, and so they balk at the kerosene lamps and the rest of the implements of light housekeeping. But there’s no real limit to the amount of extras a fellow with the right stuff in him will take
on without losing his grin.
There’s nothing that tells the truth to a woman like a mirror, or that lies harder to a man.
Poverty never spoils a good man, but prosperity often does. It’s easy to stand hard times, because that’s the only thing you can do, but in good times the fool-killer has to do night work.
Tact is the knack of keeping quiet at the right time; of being so agreeable yourself that no one can be disagreeable to you; of making inferiority feel like equality. A tactful man can pull the stinger from a bee without getting stung.
Where you feel a man is not square you will be armed to meet him, but never on his own ground. Make him be honest with you if you can, but don’t let him make you dishonest with him.
When you make a mistake, don’t make the second one—keeping it to yourself. Own up. The time to sort out rotten eggs is at the nest. The deeper you hide them in the case the longer they stay in circulation, and the worse impression they make when they finally come to the breakfast-table. And one lie breeds enough distrust to choke out the prettiest crop of confidence that a fellow ever cultivated.
When business is good, that is the time to force it, because it will come easy; and when it is bad, that is the time to force it, too, because we will need the orders.
If you look as if you had slept in your clothes, most men will jump to the conclusion that you have, and you will never get to know them well enough to explain that your head is so full of noble thoughts that you haven’t time to bother with the dandruff on your shoulders. Appearances are deceitful, I know, but so long as they are, there’s nothing like having them deceive for us instead of against us.
Two-thirds of success is making people think you are all right. So you have to be governed by general rules, even though you may be an exception.
A man can’t do what he pleases in this world, because the higher he climbs the plainer people can see him.
There are two unpardonable sins in this world—success and failure. Those who succeed can’t forgive a fellow for being a failure, and those who fail can’t forgive him for being a success. If you do succeed, though, you will be too busy to bother very much about what the failures think.
Of course, when a fellow gets to the point where he is something in particular, he doesn’t have to care because he doesn’t look like anything special; but while a young fellow isn’t anything in particular, it is a mighty valuable asset if he looks like something special.
A man doesn’t snap up a horse just because he looks all right. As a usual thing that only makes him wonder what really is the matter that the other fellow wants to sell. So he leads the nag out into the middle of a ten-acre lot, where the light will strike him good and strong, and examines every hair of his hide, as if he expected to find it near-seal, or some other base imitation; and he squints under each hoof for the grand hailing sign of distress; and he peeks down his throat for dark secrets. If the horse passes this degree the buyer drives him twenty or thirty miles, expecting him to turn out a roarer, or to find that he balks, or shies, or goes lame, or develops some other horse nonsense. If after all that there are no bad symptoms, he offers fifty less than the price asked, on general principles, and for fear he has missed something. Take men and horses, by and large, and they run pretty much the same. There’s nothing like trying a man in harness a while before you bind yourself to travel very far with him.
The duties of the position to do your work so well that the manager can’t run the department without you, and that you can run
the department without the manager.
A clerk has just one boss to answer to—the manager. But the manager has just as many bosses as he has clerks under him. He can make rules, but he’s the only man who can’t afford to break them now and then. A fellow is a boss simply because he’s a better man than those under him, and there’s a heap of responsibility in being better than the next fellow. Setting a good example is just a small part of a manager’s duties. It’s not enough to settle yourself firm on the box seat—you must have every man under you hitched up right and well in hand. You can’t work individuals by general rules. Every man is a special case and needs a special pill.
Consider carefully before you say a hard word to a man, but never let a chance to say a good one go by. Praise judiciously bestowed is money invested. Be slow to hire and quick to fire. The time to discover incompatibility of temper and curl-papers is before the marriage ceremony. But when you find that you’ve hired the wrong man, you can’t get rid of him too quick.
Never threaten, because a threat is a promise to pay that it isn’t always convenient to meet, but if you don’t make it good it hurts your credit. Save a threat till you’re ready to act, and then you won’t need it. In all your dealings, remember that to-day is your opportunity; to-morrow some other fellow’s.
Keep close to your men. A competent boss can move among his men without having to draw an imaginary line between them,
because they will see the real one if it exists.
When you’re through sizing up the other fellow, it’s a good thing to step back from yourself and see how you look. Then add fifty per cent. to your estimate of your neighbor for virtues that you can’t see, and deduct fifty per cent. from yourself for faults that you’ve missed in your inventory, and you’ll have a pretty accurate result.
There’s still plenty of room at the top, but there isn’t much anywhere else.
It won’t do to say that it’s not in our line, because anything which carries a profit on four legs is in our line.
The way to think of a thing in business is to think of it first, and the way to get a share of the trade is to go for all of it.
In handling men, your own feelings are the only ones that are of no importance. I don’t mean by this that you want to sacrifice your self-respect, but you must keep in mind that the bigger the position the broader the man must be to fill it.
A man’s as good as he makes himself, but no man’s any good because his grandfather was.
A man who does big things is too busy to talk about them. When the jaws really need exercise, chew gum.
It’s been my experience that pride is usually a spur to the strong and a drag on the weak. It drives the strong man along and holds the weak one back.
I learned right there how to be humble, which is a heap more important than knowing how to be proud. There are mighty few men that need any lessons in that.
There are two things you never want to pay any attention to—abuse and flattery. The first can’t harm you and the second can’t help you. Some men are like yellow dogs—when you’re coming toward them they’ll jump up and try to lick your hands; and when you’re walking away from them they’ll sneak up behind and snap at your heels.
I’ve put a good deal more than work into my business, and I’ve drawn a good deal more than money out of it; but the only thing I’ve ever put into it which didn’t draw dividends in fun or dollars was worry.Worrying is the one game in which, if you guess right, you don’t get any satisfaction out of your smartness. A busy man has no time to bother with it.
The time to do your worrying is when a thing is all over, and that the way to do it is to leave it to the neighbors.
Money ought never to be the consideration in marriage, but it always ought to be a consideration. When a boy and a girl don’t think enough about money before the ceremony, they’re going to have to think altogether too much about it after;
I want to say right here that there’s only one thing more aggravating in this world than a woman who gets noisy when she’s mad, and that’s one who gets quiet.A violent woman drives a fellow to drink, but a nagging one drives him crazy.
With most people happiness is something that is always just a day off. But I have made it a rule never to put off being happy till to-morrow. Don’t accept notes for happiness, because you’ll find that when they’re due they’re never paid, but just renewed for another thirty days. When they’ve got a weak case they add their sex to it and win, and that when they’ve got a strong case they subtract their sex from it and deal with you harder than a man. They’re simply bound to win either way, and I don’t like to play a
game where I haven’t any show.
A married man is worth more salary than a single one, because his wife makes him worth more. He’s apt to go to bed a little sooner and to get up a little earlier; to go a little steadier and to work a little harder than the fellow who’s got to amuse a different girl every night, and can’t stay at home to do it.
Timeless wisdom. A very good read.
Extracts-
Does a College education pay? You bet it pays. Anything that trains a boy to think and to think quick pays; anything that teaches a boy to get the answer before the other fellow gets through biting the pencil, pays.
It isn’t so much knowing a whole lot, as knowing a little and how to use it that counts.
I can’t hand out any ready-made success to you. It would do you no good, and it would do the house harm. There is plenty of room at the top here, but there is no elevator in the building. Starting, as you do, with a good education, you should be able to climb quicker than the fellow who hasn’t got it; but there’s going to be a time when you begin at the factory when you won’t be able to lick stamps so fast as the other boys at the desk. Yet the man who hasn’t licked stamps isn’t fit to write letters. Naturally, that is the time when knowing whether the pie comes before the ice-cream, and how to run an automobile isn’t going to be of any real use to you.
If your ambition runs to hunching up all week over a desk, to earn eight dollars to blow on a few rounds of drinks for the boys on Saturday night, there is no objection to your gratifying it; for I will know that the Lord didn’t intend you to be your own boss.
I’ve always made it a rule to buy brains, and I’ve learned now that the better trained they are the faster they find reasons for getting their salaries raised. The fellow who hasn’t had the training may be just as smart, but he’s apt to paw the air when he’s reaching for ideas.
It’s not what a man does during working-hours, but after them, that breaks down his health. A fellow and his business should be bosom friends in the office and sworn enemies out of it. A clear mind is one that is swept clean of business at six o’clock every night and isn’t opened up for it again until after the shutters are taken down next morning.
You will always find it a safe rule to take a thing just as quick as it is offered— especially a job. It is never easy to get one except when you don’t want it; but when you have to get work, and go after it with a gun, you’ll find it as shy as an old crow that every farmer in the county has had a shot at.
There is one excuse for every mistake a man can make, but only one. When a fellow makes the same mistake twice he’s got to throw up both hands and own up to carelessness or cussedness.
A business man’s conversation should be regulated by fewer and simpler rules than any other function of the human animal. They are:
- Have something to say.
- Say it.
- Stop talking.
You’ve got to preach short sermons to catch sinners; and deacons won’t believe they need long ones themselves. Give fools the first and women the last word. The meat’s always in the middle of the sandwich. Of course, a little butter on either side of it doesn’t do any harm if it’s intended for a man who likes butter.
A man’s got to keep company a long time, and come early and stay late and sit close, before he can get a girl or a job worth having. There’s nothing comes without calling in this world, and after you’ve called you’ve generally got to go and fetch it yourself.
Boys are constantly writing me for advice about how to succeed, and when I send them my receipt they say that I am dealing out commonplace generalities. Of course I am, but that’s what the receipt calls for, and if a boy will take these commonplace generalities and knead them into his job, the mixture’ll be cake.
Criticism can properly come only from above, and whenever you discover that your boss is no good you may rest easy that the man who pays his salary shares your secret. Remember that when you’re in the right you can afford to keep your temper, and that when you’re in the wrong you can’t afford to lose it.
- He reckoned that the only really safe way to approach a mule was to drop on it from a balloon.
- For he’s one of those men that never show any real enthusiasm except when they’re cussing.
Loyalty- It is the one commodity that hasn’t any market value, and it’s the one that you can’t pay too much for.You can trust any number of men with your money, but mighty few with your reputation.
Superiority makes every man feel its equal. It is courtesy without condescension; affability without familiarity; self-sufficiency without selfishness; simplicity without snide.
I have always found that, whenever I thought a heap of anything I owned, there was nothing like getting the other fellow’s views
expressed in figures; and the other fellow is usually a pessimist when he’s buying.
The only way to show a fellow that he’s chosen the wrong business is to let him try it. If it really is the wrong thing you won’t have to argue with him to quit,
The easiest way in the world to make enemies is to hire friends.
While a man doesn’t see much of a girl’s family when he’s courting, he’s apt to see a good deal of it when he’s housekeeping; and while he doesn’t marry his wife’s father, there’s nothing in the marriage vow to prevent the old man from borrowing money of him,
Never marry a poor girl who’s been raised like a rich one. She’s simply traded the virtues of the poor for the vices of the rich without going long on their good points. To marry for money or to marry without money is a crime. There’s no real objection to marrying a woman with a fortune, but there is to marrying a fortune with a woman
You can trust a woman’s taste on everything except men; and it’s mighty lucky that she slips up there or we’d pretty nigh all be bachelors. I might add that you can’t trust a man’s taste on women, either, and that’s pretty lucky, too, because there are a good many old maids in the world as it is.
Marrying the wrong girl is the one mistake that you’ve got to live with all your life.
There’s nothing in the world sicker-looking than the grin of the man who’s trying to join in heartily when the laugh’s on him, and to pretend that he likes it.
A real salesman is one-part talk and nine-parts judgment; and he uses the nine-parts of judgment to tell when to use the one-part of talk. Real buyers ain’t interested in much besides your goods and your prices. Never run down your competitor’s brand to them, and never let them run down yours. Don’t get on your knees for business, but don’t hold your nose so high in the air that an order can travel under it without your seeing it. You’ll meet a good many people on the road that you won’t like, but the house needs their business.
That is why when a fellow comes to me for advice about moving to a new country, where there are more opportunities, I advise him—if he is built right—to go to an old city where there is more money.
It looks to me as if you were trying only half as hard as you could, and in trying it’s the second half that brings results.
The man who invests in more knowledge of the business than he has to have in order to hold his job has capital with which to buy a mortgage on a better one. It has been my experience that when a fellow has that half knowledge he finds it’s the other half which would really come in handy. So, when a man’s in the selling end of the business what he really needs to know is the manufacturing end; and when he’s in the factory he can’t know too much about the trade.
A man who knows his own business thoroughly will find an opportunity sooner or later of reaching the most hardened cuss of a buyer on his route and of getting a share of his. I want to caution you right here against learning all there is to know about pork packing too quick. Business is a good deal like a nigger’s wool—it doesn’t look very deep, but there are a heap of kinks and curves in it. The great trouble with most young fellows is that they think they have learned all they need to know and have given the audience its money’s worth when they can keep the glass balls going, and so they balk at the kerosene lamps and the rest of the implements of light housekeeping. But there’s no real limit to the amount of extras a fellow with the right stuff in him will take
on without losing his grin.
There’s nothing that tells the truth to a woman like a mirror, or that lies harder to a man.
Poverty never spoils a good man, but prosperity often does. It’s easy to stand hard times, because that’s the only thing you can do, but in good times the fool-killer has to do night work.
Tact is the knack of keeping quiet at the right time; of being so agreeable yourself that no one can be disagreeable to you; of making inferiority feel like equality. A tactful man can pull the stinger from a bee without getting stung.
Where you feel a man is not square you will be armed to meet him, but never on his own ground. Make him be honest with you if you can, but don’t let him make you dishonest with him.
When you make a mistake, don’t make the second one—keeping it to yourself. Own up. The time to sort out rotten eggs is at the nest. The deeper you hide them in the case the longer they stay in circulation, and the worse impression they make when they finally come to the breakfast-table. And one lie breeds enough distrust to choke out the prettiest crop of confidence that a fellow ever cultivated.
When business is good, that is the time to force it, because it will come easy; and when it is bad, that is the time to force it, too, because we will need the orders.
If you look as if you had slept in your clothes, most men will jump to the conclusion that you have, and you will never get to know them well enough to explain that your head is so full of noble thoughts that you haven’t time to bother with the dandruff on your shoulders. Appearances are deceitful, I know, but so long as they are, there’s nothing like having them deceive for us instead of against us.
Two-thirds of success is making people think you are all right. So you have to be governed by general rules, even though you may be an exception.
A man can’t do what he pleases in this world, because the higher he climbs the plainer people can see him.
There are two unpardonable sins in this world—success and failure. Those who succeed can’t forgive a fellow for being a failure, and those who fail can’t forgive him for being a success. If you do succeed, though, you will be too busy to bother very much about what the failures think.
Of course, when a fellow gets to the point where he is something in particular, he doesn’t have to care because he doesn’t look like anything special; but while a young fellow isn’t anything in particular, it is a mighty valuable asset if he looks like something special.
A man doesn’t snap up a horse just because he looks all right. As a usual thing that only makes him wonder what really is the matter that the other fellow wants to sell. So he leads the nag out into the middle of a ten-acre lot, where the light will strike him good and strong, and examines every hair of his hide, as if he expected to find it near-seal, or some other base imitation; and he squints under each hoof for the grand hailing sign of distress; and he peeks down his throat for dark secrets. If the horse passes this degree the buyer drives him twenty or thirty miles, expecting him to turn out a roarer, or to find that he balks, or shies, or goes lame, or develops some other horse nonsense. If after all that there are no bad symptoms, he offers fifty less than the price asked, on general principles, and for fear he has missed something. Take men and horses, by and large, and they run pretty much the same. There’s nothing like trying a man in harness a while before you bind yourself to travel very far with him.
The duties of the position to do your work so well that the manager can’t run the department without you, and that you can run
the department without the manager.
A clerk has just one boss to answer to—the manager. But the manager has just as many bosses as he has clerks under him. He can make rules, but he’s the only man who can’t afford to break them now and then. A fellow is a boss simply because he’s a better man than those under him, and there’s a heap of responsibility in being better than the next fellow. Setting a good example is just a small part of a manager’s duties. It’s not enough to settle yourself firm on the box seat—you must have every man under you hitched up right and well in hand. You can’t work individuals by general rules. Every man is a special case and needs a special pill.
Consider carefully before you say a hard word to a man, but never let a chance to say a good one go by. Praise judiciously bestowed is money invested. Be slow to hire and quick to fire. The time to discover incompatibility of temper and curl-papers is before the marriage ceremony. But when you find that you’ve hired the wrong man, you can’t get rid of him too quick.
Never threaten, because a threat is a promise to pay that it isn’t always convenient to meet, but if you don’t make it good it hurts your credit. Save a threat till you’re ready to act, and then you won’t need it. In all your dealings, remember that to-day is your opportunity; to-morrow some other fellow’s.
Keep close to your men. A competent boss can move among his men without having to draw an imaginary line between them,
because they will see the real one if it exists.
When you’re through sizing up the other fellow, it’s a good thing to step back from yourself and see how you look. Then add fifty per cent. to your estimate of your neighbor for virtues that you can’t see, and deduct fifty per cent. from yourself for faults that you’ve missed in your inventory, and you’ll have a pretty accurate result.
There’s still plenty of room at the top, but there isn’t much anywhere else.
It won’t do to say that it’s not in our line, because anything which carries a profit on four legs is in our line.
The way to think of a thing in business is to think of it first, and the way to get a share of the trade is to go for all of it.
In handling men, your own feelings are the only ones that are of no importance. I don’t mean by this that you want to sacrifice your self-respect, but you must keep in mind that the bigger the position the broader the man must be to fill it.
A man’s as good as he makes himself, but no man’s any good because his grandfather was.
A man who does big things is too busy to talk about them. When the jaws really need exercise, chew gum.
It’s been my experience that pride is usually a spur to the strong and a drag on the weak. It drives the strong man along and holds the weak one back.
I learned right there how to be humble, which is a heap more important than knowing how to be proud. There are mighty few men that need any lessons in that.
There are two things you never want to pay any attention to—abuse and flattery. The first can’t harm you and the second can’t help you. Some men are like yellow dogs—when you’re coming toward them they’ll jump up and try to lick your hands; and when you’re walking away from them they’ll sneak up behind and snap at your heels.
I’ve put a good deal more than work into my business, and I’ve drawn a good deal more than money out of it; but the only thing I’ve ever put into it which didn’t draw dividends in fun or dollars was worry.Worrying is the one game in which, if you guess right, you don’t get any satisfaction out of your smartness. A busy man has no time to bother with it.
The time to do your worrying is when a thing is all over, and that the way to do it is to leave it to the neighbors.
Money ought never to be the consideration in marriage, but it always ought to be a consideration. When a boy and a girl don’t think enough about money before the ceremony, they’re going to have to think altogether too much about it after;
I want to say right here that there’s only one thing more aggravating in this world than a woman who gets noisy when she’s mad, and that’s one who gets quiet.A violent woman drives a fellow to drink, but a nagging one drives him crazy.
With most people happiness is something that is always just a day off. But I have made it a rule never to put off being happy till to-morrow. Don’t accept notes for happiness, because you’ll find that when they’re due they’re never paid, but just renewed for another thirty days. When they’ve got a weak case they add their sex to it and win, and that when they’ve got a strong case they subtract their sex from it and deal with you harder than a man. They’re simply bound to win either way, and I don’t like to play a
game where I haven’t any show.
A married man is worth more salary than a single one, because his wife makes him worth more. He’s apt to go to bed a little sooner and to get up a little earlier; to go a little steadier and to work a little harder than the fellow who’s got to amuse a different girl every night, and can’t stay at home to do it.
December 18, 2020
Hilarious but deep life lessons that go deeper than words on paper. Timeless advice relevant for any age.
January 24, 2016
Of course, clothes don't make the man, but they make all of him except his hands and face during business hours, and that's a pretty considerable area of the human animal. A dirty shirt may hide a pure heart, but it seldom covers a clean skin. If you look as if you had slept in our clothes, most men will jump to the conclusion that you have, and you will never get to know them well enough to explain that your head is so full of noble thoughts that you haven't time to bother with the dandruff on your shoulders...Appearances are deceitful, I know, but so long as they are, there's nothing like having them deceive for us instead of against us.
This was an interesting and odd little book. I couldn't find much about it's history online but from what I can gather these letters from a merchant father to his son are fictitious and written by Lorimer when he was the editor of the Saturday Evening Post. They were published in that newspaper and in some way served, I'm assuming, the function of an advice column of sorts. They're full of extended metaphors and witty commentary on business and life in general. They were entertaining, but also very formulaic which made reading them back to back a little tedious. Overall, I found them enjoyable because they're such a unique bit of pop culture, I guess you could say, from around the turn of the century.
Everybody over here in Europe thinks that we haven't any society in America, and a power of people in New York think that we haven't any society in Chicago. But so far as I can see there are just as many ninety-nine-cent men spending million-dollar incomes in one place as another; and the rules that govern the game seem to be the same in all three places-you've got to be a descendant to belong, and the farther you descend the harder you belong. The only difference is that, in Europe, the ancestor who made money enough so that his family could descend, has been dead so long that they have forgotten his shop; in New York he's so recent that they can only pretend to have forgotten it; but in Chicago they can't lose it because the ancestor is hustling on the board of Trade or out at the Stock Yards.
September 10, 2015
Amusing, but annoyingly repetitious. A fictional series of letters from an industrialist to his son, with every letter following exactly the same pattern: admonishment for something the son is doing wrong, a flood of aphoristic advice on how one's business and personal affairs should be conducted, a meandering anecdote that only vaguely pertains to the son's situation. There is almost no plot (other than the short chapter intros which only sketchily show the son's actions), and we learn little about the son, and not much about the father other than the fact that he loves hearing the sound of his own voice (his letters were exasperating enough, but he must have been an absolute boor in person). The book is, at best, a dated curiosity.
June 14, 2021
Good old-fashioned old-timey advice, and good old-fashioned old-timey racism, and good old-fashioned old-timey ramblings.
These are the fictional letters of a rich, self-made merchant to his (earworm warning!) wayward son. They follow much the same format, providing kernels of wisdom and always involving a rambling anecdote from the father's earlier years.
It's an easy enough read, but I didn't find much value outside of those bitesize kernels. I've helpfully added those to my Goodreads notes, because a good quote is a good quote, and if you read it there you don't have to suffer through the racism or the sexism or the rambling.
These are the fictional letters of a rich, self-made merchant to his (earworm warning!) wayward son. They follow much the same format, providing kernels of wisdom and always involving a rambling anecdote from the father's earlier years.
It's an easy enough read, but I didn't find much value outside of those bitesize kernels. I've helpfully added those to my Goodreads notes, because a good quote is a good quote, and if you read it there you don't have to suffer through the racism or the sexism or the rambling.
December 21, 2014
Great book. I learned about the book through a website saying it was a must read. This book is a gem and has alot of wise advice. It is hard to follow at some points since it was made during a different time in history with different slangs and sayings that were popular for that time. But the advice given in the book was priceless. Some of the advice i received from my own father when I was younger.
This is a great book for a young man. I think everyone should take the time to read it and learn from the advice shared. Great book.
This is a great book for a young man. I think everyone should take the time to read it and learn from the advice shared. Great book.
July 4, 2018
I first started reading this book an year back, it probably didn't catch my interest a lot. I started re reading it couple of days back and the book was simply unputdownable. There are tons of timeless wisdom and aphorisms contained in this book in the format of letters from a father to his son. Each letter being dedicated to a topic/message in particular. This can go down as one of the all time greatest books written on business and life.
January 25, 2015
This is one of those books where you should go and read a chapter a day, because there is so much wisdom and good advice that one must take some time to have all of it absorbed appropriately. Would recommend to anyone.
June 29, 2015
A few nuggets of wisdom in the correspondences between father and son. Overall, not very interesting or relevant today as they lived in a different era.
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