102 FAMOUS LIVING AMEEICANS and in being surrounded by enthusiastic and competent men. He says : * * Concentration is my motto — first honesty, then industry, then concentration/' Again, referring to his own methods, he makes them clear in the following words: ^^I do not think that any one man can make a success of a busi- ness nowadays, I am sure I never could have done so without partners, of whom I had thirty-two — the brightest and clev- erest young fellows in the world. All are equal to each other, as the members of the Cabinet are equal. The chief must only be first among equals. I know that every one of my partners would have smiled at the idea of my being his su- perior, although the principal stockholder. The way they differed from me, and beat me many a time, was delightful to behold. *' In his book, The Empire of BusmesSj he calls the industrial world a partnership of three equals, Capital, Business Ability, and Labor; which he likens to a three-legged stool. He con- cludes that capital, business ability and labor must be united ; and that he who seeks to sow seeds of disunion among them is the enemy of all three. Mr. Carnegie's retirement from business was final. Hav- ing possessed himself of wealth, he became the prophet of wealth; not in the sense of further acquisition but the dis- posal of it — the * * dross, " as he calls it rather comtemptuous- ly. Despite his rugged and somewhat aggressive bearing, An- drew Carnegie has a tender heart. Impulsive by nature and sometimes in speech, he never acts impulsively. Indeed, he is much of a thinker and philosopher. If he occasionally ex- plodes, it is because he feels that he has a gospel to preach, real things to do, and he wants results. He is a man with a reserved soul and passionate convictions. Hence his occa- sional outbursts. From youth up he has been, in the deep recesses of his heart, a dreamer of dreams and a builder of ** castles in the air.'* To bring these airy creations to earth, and root them there somehow, has been his steadfast purpose throughout his long and eventful life. In 1895 he bought Skibo Castle f
