--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: The healthy spirit of self-help created…" description: "\"The healthy spirit of self-help created among working people would, more than any other measure, serve to raise them as a class; and this, not by pulli..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg" --- # The healthy spirit of self-help created among working… ![“The healthy spirit of self-help created among working people would, more than any other measure, serve to raise them as a class; and this, not by pulling down others, but by levelling them up to a higher and still advancing standard of religion, intelligence, and virtue.” quote by Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg) > “The healthy spirit of self-help created among working people would, more than any other measure, serve to raise them as a class; and this, not by pulling down others, but by levelling them up to a higher and still advancing standard of religion, intelligence, and virtue.” [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Collective self-improvement lifts a class without harming others, raising overall standards. **In simple terms:** Helping each other raises everyone. Key Takeaway Promote mutual growth rather than competition. Themes education social progress community development Mood optimistic thoughtful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - workplace training - community workshops - public education - social reform Key Concepts self-help class uplift ethical development Questions to Reflect On - What steps can communities take to foster collective advancement? - How can we measure the impact of mutual uplift? A Different Perspective Implementation may be hindered by entrenched hierarchies. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Character](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/character/) [Class](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/class/) [Health](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/health/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Religion](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/religion/) [Self](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self/) [Self help](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/self-help/) [Spirit](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/spirit/) [Virtue](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/virtue/) [Working people](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/working-people/) ## Related quotes > [General Sickles, this is in some respects higher ground than that to the rear, but there is still higher in front of you, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-meade/general-sickles-this-is-in-some-respects-higher-ground-than-that-to/) [George Meade](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-meade/) > [Healthy body, healthy mind and healthy spirit. 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Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [The average condition of the people improving or deteriorating, depends upon whether population is advancing faster than improvement, or improvement than population.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-stuart-mill/the-average-condition-of-the-people-improving-or-deteriorating/) [John Stuart Mill](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-stuart-mill/) > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. I am more concerned with continuity of ideas and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/nathan-oliveira/i-am-not-the-avant-garde-i-am-the-artist-who-comes-after-the/) [Nathan Oliveira](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/nathan-oliveira/) ## More by Samuel Smiles > [Biographies of great, but especially of good men are most instructive and useful as helps, guides, and incentives to others. Some of the best…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/biographies-of-great-but-especially-of-good-men-are-most-instructive/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Diligence, above all, is the mother of good luck.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/diligence-above-all-is-the-mother-of-good-luck/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The women of the poorer classes make sacrifices, and run risks, and bear privations, and exercise patience and kindness to a degree that the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-women-of-the-poorer-classes-make-sacrifices-and-run-risks-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Self-respect is the noblest garment with which a man can clothe himself, the most elevating feeling with which the mind can be inspired.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/self-respect-is-the-noblest-garment-with-which-a-man-can-clothe/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The experience gathered from books, though often valuable, is but of the nature of learning; whereas, the experience gained from actual life is of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-experience-gathered-from-books-though-often-valuable-is-but-of/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The apprenticeship of difficulty is one which the greatest of men have had to serve.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-apprenticeship-of-difficulty-is-one-which-the-greatest-of-men/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The spirit of self-help is the root of all genuine growth in the individual; and, exhibited in the lives of many, it constitutes the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-spirit-of-self-help-is-the-root-of-all-genuine-growth-in-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The wise man... if he would live at peace with others, he will bear and forbear.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-wise-man-if-he-would-live-at-peace-with-others-he-will-bear-and/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Those who are the most persistent, and work in the true spirit, will invariably be the most successful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/those-who-are-the-most-persistent-and-work-in-the-true-spirit-will/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The iron rail proved a magicians' road. It virtually reduced England to a sixth of its size. It brought the country nearer to the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-iron-rail-proved-a-magicians-road-it-virtually-reduced-england-to/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [This extraordinary metal, the soul of every manufacture, and the mainspring perhaps of civilised society. Of iron.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/this-extraordinary-metal-the-soul-of-every-manufacture-and-the/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [Man cannot aspire if he looked down; if he rise, he must look up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/man-cannot-aspire-if-he-looked-down-if-he-rise-he-must-look-up/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [The life of a good man is at the same time the most eloquent lesson of virtue and the most severe reproof of vice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-life-of-a-good-man-is-at-the-same-time-the-most-eloquent-lesson/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [It is a grand old name, that of gentleman, and has been recognized as a rank and power in all stages of society. To…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/it-is-a-grand-old-name-that-of-gentleman-and-has-been-recognized-as-a/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) > [“Many are the lives of men unwritten, which have nevertheless as powerfully influenced civilization and progress as the more fortunate Great whose names are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/many-are-the-lives-of-men-unwritten-which-have-nevertheless-as/) [Samuel Smiles](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) [Explore all 189 Samuel Smiles quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/) ## More Advancing quotes > [I am not the avant-garde. I am the artist who comes after the advancing guard. 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Dembski](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/william-a-dembski/) > [I needed to save every penny…I needed to be strong, and needed to find some way to secure a future. That’s why I am…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/li-ka-shing/i-needed-to-save-every-penny-i-needed-to-be-strong-and-needed-to-find/) [Li Ka-shing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/li-ka-shing/) > [The corporation is not an independent "person" with its own rights, needs, and desires that regulators must respect. It is a state created tool…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-bakan/the-corporation-is-not-an-independent-person-with-its-own-rights/) [Joel Bakan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-bakan/) > [I believe that the manned space program can engage the public by advancing the space frontier. Every next mission takes you farther out in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/neil-degrasse-tyson/i-believe-that-the-manned-space-program-can-engage-the-public-by/) [Neil deGrasse Tyson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/neil-degrasse-tyson/) > [Five qualities there are wine's praise advancing; Strong, beautiful, fragrant, cool and dancing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-harington/five-qualities-there-are-wine-s-praise-advancing-strong-beautiful/) [John Harington](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-harington/) > [Ladies: Anne Hathaway is a feminist and she has amazing teeth. Let's save our bad attitudes for the ones who aren't advancing the cause.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anne-hathaway/ladies-anne-hathaway-is-a-feminist-and-she-has-amazing-teeth-let-s/) [Anne Hathaway](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anne-hathaway/) > [Increasingly constructive doubt is the sign of advancing civilization. We must put question marks along many of our inherited legal dogmas, since they are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jerome-frank/increasingly-constructive-doubt-is-the-sign-of-advancing-civilization/) [Jerome Frank](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jerome-frank/) > [What's important is how we use our time on this earth, not how conspicuously we give our money away. What's important is the energy…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dan-pallotta/what-s-important-is-how-we-use-our-time-on-this-earth-not-how/) [Dan Pallotta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dan-pallotta/) > [Advancing bourgeois society liquidates memory, time, recollection as irrational leftovers of the past.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/theodor-adorno/advancing-bourgeois-society-liquidates-memory-time-recollection-as/) [Theodor Adorno](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/theodor-adorno/) > [The real debate is we've had an activist court, and the American people don't want an activist court. 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A sound man by not advancing himself stays the further…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/laozi/the-universe-is-deathless-is-deathless-because-having-no-finite-self/) [Laozi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/laozi/) > [I'm convinced after spending three weeks in China and Tibet, unless the United States gets its act together, our grandchildren will be living in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mort-kondracke/i-m-convinced-after-spending-three-weeks-in-china-and-tibet-unless/) [Mort Kondracke](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mort-kondracke/) Browse all 266 Advancing quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "The healthy spirit of self-help created among working people would, more than any other measure, serve to raise them as a class; and this, not by pulling down others, but by levelling them up to a higher and still advancing standard of religion, intelligence, and virtue.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Samuel Smiles" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created-among-working-people-would/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Advancing" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created-among-working-people-would/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/d14/samuel-smiles-2037_advancing_the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created_2200957.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“The healthy spirit of self-help created among working people would, more than any other measure, serve to…” — Samuel Smiles", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Samuel Smiles", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-smiles/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "The healthy spirit of self-help created...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created-among-working-people-would/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-smiles/the-healthy-spirit-of-self-help-created-among-working-people-would/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```