Reading rank 472
Self-Help
, subject: Self-discipline, lifelong learning, honesty, thrift, and prudence, 1859
David identifies Smiles's Self-Help among the books that shaped young Samuel Insull's ideas about work and self-improvement.
2
Coverage Score
1
Scored evidence
About the book
Smiles draws on engineers, inventors, artists and other working lives to examine how habits and sustained effort shape achievement. The book connects practical self-culture with the responsibilities and conduct of everyday life.
Why read it
Best if you want to investigate the self-improvement ideals associated with Insull's early reading and compare them with the career David describes.
Key themes
- Early reading can supply lasting ideals
- Read the ideals beside the later career
Evidence and original sources
Source: official Founders episode — #336
This record is supported by 1 public evidence rows linked to original Founders episodes.
- How To Lose A Few Billion Dollars: Samuel Insull — David identifies Samuel Smiles's Self-Help among the books that influenced young Samuel Insull, then discusses lifelong learning, discipline, honesty, thrift and prudence. The reading and influence belong to Insull, and the surrounding maxims are not all attributed to this one title.