Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son
Old John Graham, a Chicago pork-packing millionaire, writes to his son at Harvard and then at work, with blunt, funny advice about money, business and life. By George Horace Lorimer (1902). A public-domain classic.
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How it begins CHICAGO, October 1, 189-Dear Pierrepont: Your Ma got back safe this morning and she wants me to be sure to tell you not to over-study, and I want to tell you to be sure not to under-study. What we're really sending you to Harvard for is to get a little of the education that's so good and plenty there. When it's passed around you don't want to be bashful, but reach right out and take a big helping every time, for I want you to get your share. You'll find that education's about the only thing lying around loose in this world, and that it's about the only thing a fellow can have as much of as he's willing to haul away. Everything else is screwed down tight and the screw-driver lost. Keep reading →About this story
Old John Graham, a Chicago pork-packing millionaire who started with nothing, writes to his son Pierrepont, first at Harvard and then at work in the family business. His letters are blunt, funny and full of advice about money, business and life, and he has no patience for fools.
George Horace Lorimer, the editor of The Saturday Evening Post, wrote them for the magazine and published them as a book in 1902. They were a huge success in their day, and are still read for their humour and their picture of American business at the start of the 20th century.
- Themes
- Money and work, fathers and sons, practical wisdom
- Good for
- Readers who like humour and plain advice; a book to dip into
- Worth noticing
- How John Graham gives the same advice in different ways, depending on his mood.
Chapters
- 1Letter I9 min · 9 Oct
- 2Letter II9 min · 9 Oct
- 3Letter III11 min · 9 Oct
- 4Letter IV8 min · 9 Oct
- 5Letter V8 min · 9 Oct
- 6Letter VI8 min · 9 Oct
- 7Letter VII8 min · 9 Oct
- 8Letter VIII14 min · 9 Oct
- 9Letter IX9 min · 9 Oct
- 10Letter X9 min · 9 Oct
- 11Letter XI10 min · 9 Oct
- 12Letter XII13 min · 9 Oct
- 13Letter XIII10 min · 9 Oct
- 14Letter XIV12 min · 9 Oct
- 15Letter XV9 min · 9 Oct
- 16Letter XVI14 min · 9 Oct
- 17Letter XVII11 min · 9 Oct
- 18Letter XVIII10 min · 9 Oct
- 19Letter XIX18 min · 9 Oct
- 20Letter XX8 min · 9 Oct
