I thought and dreamed of nothing else but the steel works.

I am sure that few successful men are so-called 'natural geniuses.'

I didn't take up shorthand with any idea of becoming a professional at it. It merely appeared to me to be a good thing to know - something that might come in handy.

I thought and dreamed of nothing else but the steel works.

Young men may enjoy dropping their work at five or six o'clock and slipping into a dress suit for an evening of pleasure; but the habit has certain drawbacks.

In my own house I rigged up a laboratory and studied chemistry in the evenings, determined that there should be nothing in the manufacture of steel that I would not know. Although I had received no technical education I made myself master of chemistry and of the laboratory, which proved of lasting value.

We have reached in this country an amazing degree of general prosperity, with American business on the whole no longer facing an uphill climb.