Samuel Smiles | |
|---|---|
 Portrait by Sir George Reid, 1877 | |
| Born | 23 December 1812 Haddington, East Lothian, Scotland |
| Died | 16 April 1904 (age 91) Kensington, London, England |
| Alma mater | University of Edinburgh |
| Known for | Biographies and self-help books |
| Notable work | Self-Help |
Samuel Smiles (23 December 1812 – 16 April 1904) was a British author and government reformer. Although he campaigned on a Chartist platform, he promoted the idea that more progress would come from new attitudes than from new laws. His primary work, Self-Help (1859), promoted thrift and claimed that poverty was caused largely by irresponsible habits, while also attacking materialism and laissez-faire government. It has been called "the bible of mid-Victorian liberalism" and had lasting effects on British political thought.