Smiles, Samuel

Smiles, Samuel

▪ Scottish writer

born Dec. 23, 1812, Haddington, Berwickshire, Scot.
died April 16, 1904, London
 Scottish author best known for his didactic work Self-Help (1859), which, with its successors, Character (1871), Thrift (1875), and Duty (1880), enshrined the basic Victorian values associated with the “gospel of work.”

      One of 11 children left fatherless in 1832, Smiles learned the meaning of self-reliance. Although he qualified in medicine at Edinburgh in 1832, he soon abandoned medical practice for journalism, moving to Leeds, where from 1838 to 1842 he edited the progressive and reformist Leeds Times. His radicalism was a practical application of the doctrines of the utilitarian philosophers (“philosophical radicals”) Jeremy Bentham and James Mill. He was a zealous advocate of material progress based on individual enterprise and free trade. From 1845 to 1866 he was engaged in railway administration, and in 1857 he published a life of the inventor and founder of the railways, George Stephenson. He followed this with Self-Help, with Illustrations of Character and Conduct, the outcome of a series of lectures on self-improvement given to young men in Leeds; 250,000 copies had been sold by the end of the century, and it was widely translated. Smiles wrote many other books, including Lives of the Engineers (3 vol., 1861–62; 5 vol., enlarged ed., 1874), a pioneer study in economic history; and an Autobiography (ed. by T. Mackay, 1905).

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  • SMILES, SAMUEL —    author of Self Help, born in Haddington; was bred to medicine, and professed it for a time, but abandoned it for literary and other work; wrote the Life of George Stephenson in 1857, followed by Self Help two years after; b. 1812 …   The Nuttall Encyclopaedia

  • Smiles, Samuel — (1812 1904)    Biographer and miscellaneous writer, b. at Haddington, ed. at the Grammar School there, studied medicine at Edin., and settled in practice in his native town. Subsequently he betook himself to journalism, and ed. a paper in Leeds.… …   Short biographical dictionary of English literature

  • Samuel Smiles — [Samuel Smiles] (1812–1904) a Scottish writer and teacher. He believed that people could improve themselves and have better lives, and wrote books about people who had done this, including Lives of the Engineers (1861–2). He also wrote several… …   Useful english dictionary

  • Samuel Smiles — (23 December, 1812 ndash; 16 April, 1904), was a Scottish author and reformer.Early lifeBorn in Haddington, Smiles was the eldest of eleven children. He left school at the age of 14 and was apprenticed to a doctor, an arrangement that eventually… …   Wikipedia

  • Samuel Smiles — (sprich: smeils) (* 23. Dezember 1812 in Haddington, Schottland; † 16. April 1904) war ein schottischer Moralschriftsteller. Samuel Smiles Leben Er war ursprünglich Mediziner, gab aber dann die Praxis auf, um die Redaktion de …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Samuel Smiles (band) — Samuel Smiles (frequently known as Tim Bowness/Samuel Smiles , the name to which all of their albums were attributed) were an intermittently active English ambient folk band. Their best known line up featured singer Tim Bowness (of the band No… …   Wikipedia

  • Smiles (Begriffsklärung) — Smiles bezeichnet: Smiles, ein Unternehmen in Aub Simplified Molecular Input Line Entry Specification, ein chemischer Strukturcode Smiles ist der Name folgender Personen: Mia Smiles (* 1977), südkoreanische Pornodarstellerin Samuel Smiles… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • Smiles — (spr. ßmails), Samuel, engl. Moralschriftsteller, geb. 23. Sept. 1812 zu Haddington in Schottland, gest. 16. April 1904 in London, war ursprünglich Mediziner, dann Redakteur der »Leeds Times«, 1845–60 Sekretär verschiedener Eisenbahnen. Seitdem… …   Meyers Großes Konversations-Lexikon

  • Smiles — (spr. ßmeils), Samuel, engl. Moralschriftsteller, geb. 23. Sept. 1816 zu Haddington in Schottland, gest. 16. April 1904 in London; schrieb: »Self help« (deutsch, 4. Aufl. 1866), »Character« (deutsch, 4. Aufl. 1884) u.a …   Kleines Konversations-Lexikon

  • Samuel Smiles — ➡ Smiles * * * …   Universalium

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