Publisher's Synopsis
PREFACE A keynote to the true description of a rich man who does good with his money is struck by Ruskin when he defines wealth to be "the possession of the valuable by the valiant"; for, as he goes on to say, ''that man is the richest who, having perfected the function of his own life, has also the widest helpful interest." These words apply with singular fitness to Andrew Carnegie. The story of his life is a record of high aims and strenuous endeavor, disclosing constant indications of a master mind; so that the rising generation, as they follow the gradual growth of his fortunes, and the development of his character, may gather from an account of the winning of his wealth a strong incentive to courageous enterprise, and also appreciate the intention of his pithy paradox, "A man who dies rich dies disgraced?" Who can fail to admire that firm purpose to complete his duties as he interprets them, which has reached a noble climax in the fixed determination to put his millions to the most beneficial use? He is anxious above all things to prevent this mint of money from doing harm, by disbursing it worthily during his lifetime, and although he must accept the penalties with the pleasures of his prominent position, he can well afford to disregard petty criticism. "Wealth," said Gladstone, "is the business of the world"; and when he added, "the enormous power which it possesses has been used on the whole well," we cannot doubt that he had in his mind this great millionaire for whom he frequently expressed a warm regard, and whose "Gospel of Wealth" he reviewed in the glowing terms which are quoted in these pages. Mr. Carnegie, himself a thorough and thoughtful student of men and manners, is heartily at one with an old writer who has quaintly asserted that "to amass money and to make no use of it is as senseless as to hunt game and not roast it," and therefore it is one of the main purposes of this volume to prove that he - " the self-made Steel King - stands head and shoulders above most of his fellow-millionaires, in that he has undertaken to distribute with his own hands, and at his own discretion after most careful thought, the gigantic funds which he has accumulated by such alert and unflinching industry; holding himself to be no more than a trustee, responsible for their application through such channels, and to such ends, as may be expected to enrich the minds and moral welfare of those whom he thus makes his heirs.
