Samuel Smiles

Two famous figures, one from the sciences and one from the arts, who turned suffering to advantage.

Samuel Smiles gives two striking examples of great Englishmen who have brought much good out of their sufferings, one in the field of science, the other in the arts.

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A sympathetic understanding of the trials of other people is essential for getting along.

In his motivational book Character (1871), Samuel Smiles reminded us that getting along with others requires a willingness to pass over their weaknesses, faults and occasional offences, and gave the example of Queen Caroline Matilda of Denmark and Britain, sister of King George III.

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To do one’s duty is to peep into the mystery of life, and taste reward from another world.

Samuel Smiles closed his book devoted to character with a reflection on doing one’s duty — meaning neither the bare minimum required by law, nor slavish obedience to authority, but the mysterious, often elusive task which God has entrusted to each one of us.

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George Stephenson argued that his steam engines were solar-powered.

Today’s enthusiasts for ‘renewable energy’ have brought Britain’s once-mighty coal industry to an end. Yet judging by George Stephenson’s exchange with William Buckland, the eccentric but brilliant Oxford geologist, there may have been a serious misunderstanding...

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Great inventions come from those who notice what they see.

Scottish motivational writer Samuel Smiles held that most of the great discoveries come not from a policy of deliberate ‘invention’ but from instinctively noticing things that other people merely see.

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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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