A Review of Andrew Carnegie's "Round the World"
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Published December 20, 2020
Updated May 11, 2022 |
The following is the concluding paragraph to the book:
"In the confident and inspiring belief in the sure coming of the day of the Brotherhood of Man, I lay down my pen and bring to a close this record of my tour round the world."
"In the confident and inspiring belief in the sure coming of the day of the Brotherhood of Man, I lay down my pen and bring to a close this record of my tour round the world."
Andrew Carnegie, Round the World
A Review of "Round the World" by Andrew Carnegie (1878)
- Why Read "Round the World"
- Excerpts from the Chapter, "General Conclusions"
- This Author's Opinion and Perspective
Why Read "Round the World"
There is usually a reason why I read a book. Especially one such as this which is so far off base from my normal reading about industrialists and their business exploits. This is the story of Andrew Carnegie’s eight months of travel “round the ball.”
It is a compilation of his notes written in his diary and published for his friends enjoyment.
If one wants a peek into the psyche of an individual, crack open their daily diary or business journal.
The path to this book was a little meandering.
It is a compilation of his notes written in his diary and published for his friends enjoyment.
If one wants a peek into the psyche of an individual, crack open their daily diary or business journal.
The path to this book was a little meandering.
As always, this was a tangent to my research on Thomas J. Watson Sr. The traditional founder of IBM was supporting and funding the Mark Twain memorial. It is embarrassing to admit that I had read little of Mark Twain, so I purchased a book about him entitled, “Mark Twain in Eruption.” As I was reading this book, I came across a passage concerning Andrew Carnegie. Mr. Twain found him a little too talkative about himself—conceited.
Well, Mark Twain, to put it mildly, wasn’t known as a humble individual, so was his perception on this one occasion accurate?
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Or was Twain upset because the conversation didn’t focus on him?
I had read several of Mr. Carnegie’s books and although some of them come across with a little arrogance on some points, I attributed this to the style of the times and probably lack of professional editing. Overall, I found him quite balanced in his perspectives. So, I decided to read one of his books that wasn’t focused on business. I wanted to catch him “with his guard down.” After reading “Round the World,” I find Andrew Carnegie a man of adventure. To set off on an around the world “excursion” of eight months in 1878 would seem to make the point. He was curious of the customs and practices of people in other places, but constantly exhibited the skill of putting himself into the other man’s shoes. He tried to understand the beliefs in the East that must have seemed so extremely foreign to an individual traveling without the modern-day advantages of international television and radio, or the National Geographic.
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Drawing published in 1919 and believed to be in the public domain
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He probably did have a lot to share with Mr. Twain, and he appears to be one who did not shy away from sharing his experiences. He did so with those he met on his travels and exhibited this willingness by publishing these travel notes for his friends. But was he egotistical and self-centered? It is probably more that he was not only willing but wanted to share all he had learned about humanity around the world: That although we have so many differences in customs, beliefs and livelihoods, he found that we are all fundamentally alike, and that humanity is just at different points in an ever onward, evolutionary, upward journey.
If I had been in the room with Andrew Carnegie, I would have shared little of myself. I would have been a sponge asking him to talk more. I doubt that I would have found him egocentric, but rather just the opposite—a man not at the center of everything he spoke of but the possessor of so much international and humanitarian experience for his day. An impressive wealth of knowledge that he had personally experienced and would make available for little more than the asking. I would have been an appreciative and willing listener.
May Mark Twain rest in peace, but of the two I would take Andrew Carnegie’s personality, experiences and perceptions over Twains. I found Mr. Carnegie to be balanced and thoughtful, and that he expressed his thoughts without malice—rarely the overriding characteristics of a Twain witticism.
My recommendation would be to read the last section of the book first. It is entitled “General Conclusions.” It is a review of his final thoughts at the end of his journey. As a review of the book, I will only publish some excerpts so that the reader can decide if this was a liberating view for an individual to have in the late 1800s.
My humble opinion is yes!
If I had been in the room with Andrew Carnegie, I would have shared little of myself. I would have been a sponge asking him to talk more. I doubt that I would have found him egocentric, but rather just the opposite—a man not at the center of everything he spoke of but the possessor of so much international and humanitarian experience for his day. An impressive wealth of knowledge that he had personally experienced and would make available for little more than the asking. I would have been an appreciative and willing listener.
May Mark Twain rest in peace, but of the two I would take Andrew Carnegie’s personality, experiences and perceptions over Twains. I found Mr. Carnegie to be balanced and thoughtful, and that he expressed his thoughts without malice—rarely the overriding characteristics of a Twain witticism.
My recommendation would be to read the last section of the book first. It is entitled “General Conclusions.” It is a review of his final thoughts at the end of his journey. As a review of the book, I will only publish some excerpts so that the reader can decide if this was a liberating view for an individual to have in the late 1800s.
My humble opinion is yes!
Excerpts from the Chapter, "General Conclusions"
- "One must traverse the ball round and round to arrive at a broad, liberal, correct estimate of humanity—its work, its aims, its destiny. … Therefore, go and see for yourselves how greatly we are bound by prejudices, how checkered and uncertain are many of our own advances, how very nearly all is balanced. …
No nation has all that is best, neither is any bereft of some advantages, and no nation, or tribe, or people is so unhappy that it would be willing to exchange its condition for that of any other. …"
- "In every society there are many individuals distinguished for traits of character which place them upon a par with the best and highest we know at home, and that such are everywhere regarded with esteem, and held up as models for lower and baser natures to emulate. …
He [the traveler] will learn … that very little is required to make mankind happy, and that the prizes of life worth contending for are, generally speaking, within the reach of the great mass. …" - "How very little the millionaire has beyond the peasant, and how very often his additions tend not to happiness but to misery. … No jewel is so refined as the simple flower in the hair, which the village maid has for the plucking from a field. … To be simply attired is to be the most elegantly dressed."
- "The rich are not to be envied, for truly “there is no purchase in money” of any real happiness. When used for our own gratification, it injures us; when used ostentatiously, it brings care; when hoarded, it narrows the soul. Nature has not provided a means by which any man can use riches for selfish purposes without suffering therefrom.
There is only one source of true blessedness in wealth, and that comes from giving it away for ends that tend to elevate our brothers and enable them to share it with us. …" - "Another advantage to be derived from a journey round the world is the sense of the brotherhood of man, the unity of the race, is very greatly strengthened thereby, for one sees that the virtues are the same in all lands and produce their good fruits. … the vices, too, are akin, and also that the motives which govern men and their actions and aims are very much the same the world over.
In their trials and sufferings, as in their triumphs and rejoicings, men do not differ, and so the heart swells and the sympathies extend, and we embrace all men in our thoughts, leaving not one outside the range of our solicitude and wishing everyone well. …" - "Wherever we have been, one story met us. Everywhere there is progress, not only material but intellectual as well, and rapid progress too. … The whole world moves and moves in the right direction—upward and onward—as things are better than those that have been, and those to come to be better than those of today.
The law of evolution—the higher from the lower—is not discredited by a voyage round the world. …"
- "At every stage of our travels I have been struck with the cheering thought, that notwithstanding the indisputable fact that a vast amount of misery seems inseparable from human life, still the general condition of mankind is a happy one. … Indeed, it is with nations as with individuals: as none are entirely good, so none are entirely bad.
The unseen power is at work in all lands, evolving the higher from the lower and steadily improving all, so the traveler finds much to commend in every country, and seeing this he grows tolerant and liberal. …"
The following is the concluding paragraph to the book.
- "In the confident and inspiring belief in the sure coming of the day of the Brotherhood of Man, I lay down my pen and bring to a close this record of my tour round the world."
This Author's Opinion and Perspective
I am thankful for the international company that Thomas J. Watson Sr. founded and reading this book made ever more grateful for the ability to travel as an IBM teacher around the world.
In all my travels I have enjoyed the company of so many who have cultures and beliefs different from my own. I have found what Andrew Carnegie found … a genuine Brotherhood of Man that I believe will one day be achieved. I will forever write in that belief. Reading this book strengthened my faith.
Thomas J. Watson Sr. always held his company up as an example of what the world could one day achieve. I support and believe in that vision because of the wonderful men and women of IBM I met in my travels around the globe. My thanks to them all.
I hope I display the same.
Cheers
- Pete
In all my travels I have enjoyed the company of so many who have cultures and beliefs different from my own. I have found what Andrew Carnegie found … a genuine Brotherhood of Man that I believe will one day be achieved. I will forever write in that belief. Reading this book strengthened my faith.
Thomas J. Watson Sr. always held his company up as an example of what the world could one day achieve. I support and believe in that vision because of the wonderful men and women of IBM I met in my travels around the globe. My thanks to them all.
I hope I display the same.
Cheers
- Pete