Editing Samuel Smiles (section)

==Legacy==

[[File:Samuel Smiles (8116935276).jpg|thumb|Samuel Smiles (8116935276)]]
''Self-Help'' has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism",<ref>M. J. Cohen and John Major (eds.), ''History in Quotations'' (London: Cassell, 2004), p. 611.</ref> and it raised Smiles to celebrity status almost overnight.

The Liberal MP [[John Arthur Roebuck|J. A. Roebuck]] in 1862 called Smiles's ''Workmen's Earnings, Strikes and Savings'' "a very remarkable book" and quoted passages from it in a speech.<ref>''The Times'' (20 January 1862), p. 10.</ref>

[[George Bernard Shaw]], in his ''Fabian Essays in Socialism'' (1889), called Smiles "that modern [[Plutarch]]".<ref>G. B. Shaw (ed.), ''Fabian Essays in Socialism'' (London: The Fabian Society, 1889), p. 10.</ref>

American inspirational writer [[Orison Swett Marden]] was inspired by Samuel Smiles as a result of having read ''Self-Help'' during his youth. Decades later, he wrote ''Pushing to the Front'' (1894) and became a professional author as a result of Smiles's influence.

The late nineteenth century and early twentieth century saw the rise of [[Social liberalism|New Liberalism]], [[Keynesian economics]], and socialism, which all viewed thrift unfavourably.{{sfnp|Briggs|1955|p=144|ps=}} The New Liberal economists [[John A. Hobson|J. A. Hobson]] and [[Albert F. Mummery|A. F. Mummery]] in their ''Physiology of Industry'' (1889), claimed that saving resulted in the underemployment of capital and labour during trade depressions. ''General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money'' (1936) by [[John Maynard Keynes]], attempted to replace classical liberal economics.

Building societies adopted the message of being thrifty to self-improve represented in ''Thrift''. In 1897, The Halifax printed the "Misery Leaflet" in which a worn-out house and a well-off house are each illustrated next to each other under the labels "Want of Thrift" and "Thrift". The leaflet has "Little and often fills the purse.", "Before you marry have a house to live in.", and "Providence will thrive where genius will starve. When fortune smiles take the advantage." written on the margins. In reality, the majority of people could not save because banks did not accept small deposits at the time.<ref>Wall text from ''Buying Security - Building Societies'', Museum on the Mound, Edinburgh.</ref><ref>Huntley & Palmers 1868: courtesy Reading Museum Service</ref>

In 1905, [[William Boyd Carpenter]], [[Bishop of Ripon (modern diocese)|Bishop of Ripon]], praised Smiles: "The Bishop said he had noticed a little tendency in some quarters to disparage the homely energies of life which at one time were so highly thought of. He recalled the appearance of ''Self-Help'', by Samuel Smiles, who 40 or 50 years ago gave lectures at Leeds encouraging young men to engage in self-improvement. His books were read with extraordinary avidity, but there arose a school which taught the existence of the beautiful and to do nothing. That school disparaged thrift and did not pay much attention to character and, perhaps, not much attention to duty".<ref>''The Times'' (21 August 1905), p. 4.</ref>

The Labour MP [[David Grenfell]], in a debate on the [[Transitional Payments (Determination of Need) Act 1932|Transitional Payments (Determination of Need) Bill]], claimed that the 1932 bill "discriminated not against the unthrifty, the idler, and the waster, but against the industrious, thrifty person, who had to pay a heavy penalty. The Minister of Labour penalized self-help. He poured contempt on Samuel Smiles and all his works".<ref>''The Times'' (15 November 1932), p. 7.</ref>

The liberal [[Ernest Benn]] invoked Smiles in 1949 when praising the virtues of self-help.<ref>Ernest Benn, ''Happier Days'' (Ernest Benn Limited, 1949), pp. 92–93.</ref>

In 1962, the director of the [[Chartered Management Institute|British Institute of Management]], John Marsh, said that young men who entered industry needed a sense of service and duty; they must be "men of character who know how to behave well as in phases of success"; they must possess self-discipline in thinking and behaviour: "There is something still to be said for Samuel Smiles's doctrine of self-help".<ref>''The Times'' (5 January 1962), p. 6.</ref>

The liberal economist [[Friedrich von Hayek|F. A. Hayek]] wrote in 1976 that: "It is probably a misfortune that, especially in the USA, popular writers like Samuel Smiles...have defended free enterprise on the ground that it regularly rewards the deserving, and it bodes ill for the future of the market order that this seems to have become the only defence of it which is understood by the general public. That it has largely become the basis of the self-esteem of the businessman often gives him an air of self-righteousness which does not make him more popular".<ref>F. A. Hayek, ''Law, Legislation and Liberty. Volume 2: The Mirage of Social Justice'' (London: Routledge, 1982), p. 74.</ref>