Editing Self-help (section)

==History==
In [[classical antiquity]], [[Hesiod]]'s ''[[Works and Days]]'' "opens with moral remonstrances, hammered home in every way that Hesiod can think of."<ref name=Boardman>{{cite book|first=John|last=Boardman|display-editors=etal|title=The Oxford History of the Classical World|location=Oxford|publisher=Oxford University Press|year=1991}}</ref>{{rp|94}}

The [[Stoics]] offered ethical advice "on the notion of {{transliteration|grc|[[eudaimonia]]}}—of well-being, welfare, flourishing."{{r|Boardman|page=371}} The ''[[Discourses of Epictetus|Discourses]]'' of [[Epictetus]] can be read as a sort of early self-help advice column, and the ''[[Meditations]]'' of [[Marcus Aurelius]] as the journal of someone engaged on a deliberate self-help program.

The genre of [[mirror-of-princes writing]], which has a long history in [[Greco-Roman]] and Western [[Renaissance]] literature, represents a secular cognate of Biblical wisdom literature. [[Proverb]]s from many periods, collected and uncollected, embody traditional moral and practical advice of diverse cultures.

The hyphenated [[English compound|compound]] word "self-help" often appeared in the 1800s in a legal context, referring to the doctrine that a party in a dispute has the right to use lawful means on their initiative to remedy a wrong.<ref>The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' (2nd ed., 1989) traces legal usage back to at least 1875; whereas it detects "self-help" as a moral virtue as early as 1831 in [[Thomas Carlyle|Carlyle]]'s ''[[Sartor Resartus]]''.</ref>

Some consider the self-help movement to have been inaugurated by [[George Combe]]'s ''Constitution'' (1828), from the way that it advocated [[personal responsibility]] and the possibility of naturally sanctioned self-improvement through education or proper self-control.<ref>{{cite book|first=John|last=Van Wyhe|title=Phrenology and the Origins of Victorian Scientific Naturalism|year=2004|page=189}}</ref>{{Verify source|date=October 2015}} In 1841, an essay by [[Ralph Waldo Emerson]], entitled [[Compensation (essay)|Compensation]], was published suggesting "every man in his lifetime needs to thank his faults" and "acquire habits of ''self-help''" as "our strength grows out of our weakness."<ref>{{cite book|first=Ralph Waldo|last=Emerson|chapter=Compensation|year=1841|page=22|chapter-url=http://www.emersoncentral.com/compensation.htm|title=Essays}}</ref> [[Samuel Smiles]] (1812–1904) published the first explicitly "self-help" book, titled ''[[Self-Help (Smiles book)|Self-Help]]'', in 1859. Its opening sentence: "Heaven helps those who help themselves", provides a variation of "God helps them that help themselves", the oft-quoted [[maxim (saying)|maxim]] that had also appeared previously in [[Benjamin Franklin]]'s ''[[Poor Richard's Almanack]]'' (1733–1758).

''50 Self-Help Classics'' by [[Tom Butler-Bowdon]] is a survey of the self-help literature from [[Samuel Smiles]] and [[Benjamin Franklin]] to [[Anthony Robbins]] and [[Brene Brown]].

===Early 20th century===

In 1902, [[James Allen (author)|James Allen]] published ''[[As a Man Thinketh]]'', which proceeds from the conviction that "a man is literally what he thinks, his character being the complete sum of all his thoughts." Noble thoughts, the book maintains, make for a noble person, while lowly thoughts make for a miserable person. [[Napoleon Hill]]'s ''[[Think and Grow Rich]]'' (1937) described the use of repeated [[Optimism|positive thought]]s to attract happiness and wealth by tapping into an "[[Infinity|Infinite]] Intelligence".<ref name=Starker>{{cite book|last=Starker|first=Steven|year=2002|title=Oracle at the Supermarket: The American Preoccupation With Self-Help Books|publisher=Transaction Publishers|page=62|isbn=0-7658-0964-8}}</ref>{{rp|62}}<ref>{{Citation |last=Borgerson |first=Janet |title=[Opening] |date=2024-05-14 |work=Designed for Success: Better Living and Self-Improvement with Midcentury Instructional Records |pages=83–88 |url=https://doi.org/10.7551/mitpress/14467.003.0009 |access-date=2025-03-20 |place=Cambridge, MA |publisher=The MIT Press |isbn=978-0-262-37786-7 |last2=Schroeder |first2=Jonathan}}</ref>

In 1936, [[Dale Carnegie]] further developed the genre with ''[[How to Win Friends and Influence People]]''.{{r|Starker|page=63}} Having failed in several careers, Carnegie became fascinated with success and its link to [[self-confidence]], and his books have since sold over 50 million copies.<ref>{{cite book|last=O'Neil|first=William J.|year=2003|title=Business Leaders & Success: 55 Top Business Leaders & How They Achieved Greatness|publisher=[[McGraw-Hill Professional]]|pages=35–36|isbn=0-07-142680-9}}</ref>