Self-service

Author: Samuel Smiles
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2004-03-01
Features: Samuel Smiles, a renowned British political reformer and moralist. Born in Haddington, Scotland, he left school at the age of 14 to serve as an apprentice to a doctor and later attended the University of Edinburgh to study medicine. During his time at university, he actively participated in parliamentary reform and used the platform of the Leeds Times to spread his views. After learning about the actual living conditions of the general working-class and impoverished population, he began to develop the idea of self-help and delivered lectures on this concept in various settings, receiving warm acclaim. These ideas were fully elaborated in his classic work, Self-Help. Upon its publication, the book created a huge social impact and was published in many countries around the world in English, French, German, Spanish, Danish, Japanese, Russian, and other languages, continuously reprinted, and became one of the best-selling books globally over the past century. The success of Self-Help inspired him to become a professional writer. In the rest of his life, he wrote other popular motivational books such as Character, Duty, and Frugality, earning him the titles of "a spiritual mentor who inspires people to strive forward" and "the father of motivation and self-help."