Old Gorgon Graham: More Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son

“I want to say right here that the easiest way in the world to make enemies is to hire friends.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“Putting off an easy thing makes it hard, and putting off a hard one makes it impossible.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“Some salesmen think that selling is like eating”

— George Horace Lorimer

“What we're really sending you to Harvard for is to get a little of the educations 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 things a fellow can have as much of as he's willing to haul away.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“Poverty never spoils a good man, but prosperity often does. It’s easy to stand hard times, because that’s the only thing you can do, but in good times the fool-killer has to do night work.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“Some men learn all they know from books; others from life; both kinds are narrow. The first are all theory; the second are all practice. It’s the fellow who knows enough about practice to test his theories for blow-holes that gives the world a shove ahead, and finds a fair margin of profit in shoving it.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“Worrying is the one game in which, if you guess right, you don’t get any satisfaction out of your smartness. A busy man has no time to bother with it.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“If there’s one piece of knowledge that is of less use to a fellow than knowing when he’s beat, it’s knowing when he’s done just enough work to keep from being fired.””

— George Horace Lorimer

“There’s no easier way to cure foolishness than to give a man leave to be foolish. And the only way to show a fellow that he’s chosen the wrong business is to let him try it.””

— George Horace Lorimer