It is not the rich man's son that the young struggler for advancement has to fear in the race for life, nor his nephew, nor his cousin. Let him look out for the dark horse in the boy who begins by sweeping out the office.
Interpretation
Success often comes from unexpected places, not just from wealth or privilege.
In this quote, Andrew Carnegie emphasizes that true competition in life comes not from those who are born into wealth or privilege, but rather from those who demonstrate hard work and determination, regardless of their background. The 'dark horse' symbolizes an underdog or overlooked individual who may unexpectedly rise to prominence through diligence and effort, suggesting that success can come from humble beginnings and that one should not underestimate those who seem insignificant initially.
In practice
In a motivational speech about overcoming adversity.
Give me the life of the boy whose mother is nurse, seamstress, washerwoman, cook, teacher, angel, and saint, all in one, and whose father is guide, exemplar, and friend. No servants to come between. These are the boys who are born to the best fortune.
To kill a man will be considered as disgusting [in the twentieth century] as we in this day consider it disgusting to eat one.
You are what you think. So just think big, believe big, act big, work big, give big, forgive big, laugh big, love big and live big.
Speculation is a parasite feeding upon values, creating none.
Don't be content with doing only your duty. Do more than your duty. It's the horse that finishes a neck ahead that wins the race.
He that cannot reason is a fool. He that will not is a bigot. He that dare not is a slave.
After spending many years in Wall Street and after making and losing millions of dollars I want to tell you this: It never was my thinking that made the big money for me. It always was my sitting. Got that? My sitting tight!
You get whatever accomplishment you are willing to declare.
The definition of success is getting many of the things money can buy and all the things money can't buy.
You gotta keep the ball off the fat part of the bat.
Before success comes in any man's life, he's sure to meet with much temporary defeat and, perhaps some failures. When defeat overtakes a man, the easiest and the most logical thing to do is to quit. That's exactly what the majority of men do.
No man is more than another unless he does more than another.
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