Scottish quote of the week: Andrew Carnegie

Published on 06/11/2012 18:39

“As I grow older, I pay less attention to what men say. I just watch what they do.”

Born in Dunfermline in 1835, Andrew Carnegie went on to become one of the richest men in human history, with a net worth of around $300 billion in today’s money.

He moved to the US as a child and worked his way through the ranks of a telegraph company, before setting up Carnegie Steel Company and leading a huge expansion in American steel production in the late 19th century.

But Carnegie was as important as a philanthropist as he was as a capitalist. He gave away an estimated $350 million (equivalent to several billion dollars today) to good causes, and details emerged this week of some of the benefactors.

As a self-made man, Carnegie is a well-quoted figure in modern history. A shrewd character, he was not one to suffer fools gladly, as the above quotation makes clear.