"Apelles, the great artist, traveled all over Greece for years, studying the fairest points of beautiful women, getting here an eye, there a forehead, and there a nose, here a grace and there a turn of beauty, for his famous portrait of a perfect woman which enchanted the world. It was not a portrait, not an imaginary ideal head, but a composite, a combination from the most perfect features he could find. By combining the perfect points, the graceful curves, the lines of beauty of many individuals, he made his wonderful painting." -Introduction

In this timeless classic, Orison Swett Marden shares his personal conversations with some of the most influential Americans of his time. This book offers valuable insights into the minds of great leaders and provides inspiration for those looking to achieve success. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This book features the life stories, told by themselves, of many successful men and women, with emphasis on those experiences which to them appear to have been the turning points in their lives. The leaders in invention, manufacture, transportation, commerce, finance, in political and public life, and in the professions of the ministry, the law, literature and art, were requested to bequeath in their own words the stories of their lives, their ideals, and the lessons of their experience, to the American public. Many and varied careers have been selected, so that each one may find his ideal of success fulfilled in real life, and be aroused to a lofty aspiration and resolute determination to achieve like eminence. While for the most part the experiences portrayed in this book occurred upon American soil, in several instances persons born or now living abroad, but prominently identified with American life, have been included. Contents: Hard Work, the Secret of a Great Inventor's Genius – Thomas Alva Edison A "Down-East" Yankee Who Dictates Peace to the Nations – Hiram Stevens Maxim A Poor Boy Who Once Borrowed Books Now Gives Away Libraries – Andrew Carnegie A Good Shoemaker Becomes Detroit's Best Mayor and Michigan's Greatest Governor – Hazen S. Pingree Determination Not to Remain Poor Made a Farmer Boy Merchant Prince – Marshall Field Honesty the Foundation of a Great Merchant's Career – John Wanamaker A British Boy Wins Fortune and Title by American Business Methods – Sir Thomas Lipton A Self-made Man Who Strives to Give Others a Chance – Darius Ogden Mills Thrift, the Secret of a Fortune Built in a Single Lifetime – Russell Sage Cut Out for a Banker, He Rose From Errand Boy to Secretary of the United States Treasury – Lyman Judson Gage A Young Millionaire Not Afraid to Work in Overalls – Cornelius Vanderbilt A Messenger Boy's Zeal Lifts Him to the Head of the World's Greatest Telegraph System – Robert C. Clowry...

This book features the life stories, told by themselves, of many successful men and women, with emphasis on those experiences which to them appear to have been the turning points in their lives. The leaders in invention, manufacture, transportation, commerce, finance, in political and public life, and in the professions of the ministry, the law, literature and art, were requested to bequeath in their own words the stories of their lives, their ideals, and the lessons of their experience, to the American public. Many and varied careers have been selected, so that each one may find his ideal of success fulfilled in real life, and be aroused to a lofty aspiration and resolute determination to achieve like eminence. While for the most part the experiences portrayed in this book occurred upon American soil, in several instances persons born or now living abroad, but prominently identified with American life, have been included. Contents: Hard Work, the Secret of a Great Inventor's Genius – Thomas Alva Edison A "Down-East" Yankee Who Dictates Peace to the Nations – Hiram Stevens Maxim A Poor Boy Who Once Borrowed Books Now Gives Away Libraries – Andrew Carnegie A Good Shoemaker Becomes Detroit's Best Mayor and Michigan's Greatest Governor – Hazen S. Pingree Determination Not to Remain Poor Made a Farmer Boy Merchant Prince – Marshall Field Honesty the Foundation of a Great Merchant's Career – John Wanamaker A British Boy Wins Fortune and Title by American Business Methods – Sir Thomas Lipton A Self-made Man Who Strives to Give Others a Chance – Darius Ogden Mills Thrift, the Secret of a Fortune Built in a Single Lifetime – Russell Sage Cut Out for a Banker, He Rose From Errand Boy to Secretary of the United States Treasury – Lyman Judson Gage A Young Millionaire Not Afraid to Work in Overalls – Cornelius Vanderbilt A Messenger Boy's Zeal Lifts Him to the Head of the World's Greatest Telegraph System – Robert C. Clowry…

Unlike some other reproductions of classic texts (1) We have not used OCR(Optical Character Recognition), as this leads to bad quality books with introduced typos. (2) In books where there are images such as portraits, maps, sketches etc We have endeavoured to keep the quality of these images, so they represent accurately the original artefact. Although occasionally there may be certain imperfections with these old texts, we feel they deserve to be made available for future generations to enjoy.