Embedded Files
Pages taken from the Diary of Charles Pratt, 1889
Source: Pratt Institute ArchiveThrough his memorandums
Quote 1.mp3"What I want to cultivate is purity, honesty of purpose - sham deception to be despised and avoided at all times."
"Time is the thing I need most and I want to learn to preserve it."
Charles Pratt owed three things to his success - his love for his mother, his philosophy of thrift and his respect for time. He believed that without these three qualities he would not have been able to get anywhere in his life. He acknowledged that his ladder to success had been notoriously steep and strongly believed that without his incredible strong principles, he would have fallen out of the race in the very beginning.
Due to his circumstances, Pratt believed that thrift was one of the most essential aspects of a man's life; if and when man could combine the philosophies of thrift and time, he could soar to incredible heights.
Numerous accounts have reiterated time and again that Pratt had a strong personality, and in meeting him one was conscious of being in the presence of a man of integrity and high ideals.
Collection of his sayings - from speeches and other sources, c.1890
Source: Pratt Institute Archivethrough his speeches
Quote 2.mp3"Personal discipline, conquering will, bringing self into subjection, accomplishing difficult things, these make character. Do not attempt to hide your real character, but rather try to make it so pure and good that you will have no secrets to cover. So long as you live others will be influenced for good or evil by it. Nothing is so desirable as nobility of character; it is more valuable than riches. As a power to influence men it is more potent than eloquence."
Pratt valued character above all else. He believed that self reliance was of importance when it came to succeeding in life - people who were not sufficiently self reliant in the struggle of life, were unable to succeed. These elements of his life seeped into how he operated his institute - which became an embodiment of his philosophies; and his other endeavors such as the Thrift and the Astral Apartments.
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