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Samuel Smiles shows us two great achievements inspired by two tiny creatures.

Scottish motivational writer Samuel Smiles is talking about the importance of noticing what we see, and gives two notable examples of a time when Nature has been mankind’s teacher.

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No one is more dangerous than the man who thinks that it is his destiny to direct things for the common good.

The revolutionary Scottish philosopher Adam Smith did not like to hear politicians speaking of managing the national economy ‘for the common good’. Leaving ordinary people to manage their own affairs was, he said, far more beneficial to society at large, and much less of a temptation to susceptible politicians.

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It is not politicians and their policies that create wealth, but the hard work and ingenuity of ordinary people.

Richard Cobden MP led the fight in the House of Commons to repeal the Corn Laws, which taxed imports of grain in order to shore up Britain’s agriculture industry. The laws caused the price of bread to rise, making the poor poorer; after the laws were repealed, Britain became the manufacturing centre of the world.

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Intellectual learning is to be respected, but it should never be confused with good character.

Samuel Smiles devoted an entire volume to the subject of character, appreciating that an education is only as good as the moral principles with which it is applied.

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Scrooge begs the Spirit of Christmas to tell him what will happen to Tiny Tim.

Once, Ebenezer Scrooge thought that disabled children should be left to die. Now, he is all anxiety to know what will become of his clerk’s lame and frail boy, tiny Tim.

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The extraordinary productivity and social mobility of the Victorian era is to the credit not of the governing class, but of the working man.

Samuel Smiles inspired millions of ordinary workers to achieve their dreams. In this passage, he urges them to rely on their own strength of character rather than on the State’s empty promises.

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