This unique book brings together thoughts of great men and women, not found elsewhere as a complete set, that hold special interest for managers. The ideas contained within are universal and apply to all aspects of civilization; as such, they are relevant to both work and life.The book also provides prime examples of how influential thinkers use language to effectively convey their arguments and intentions - an arguably invaluable tool for modern managers. It serves as a source of indispensable advice for business professionals and the general public.

Confucius : Wit and Wisdom -- Laozi (also Lao Tse, Lao Tu, Lao-Tzu, Laotze) : The Evidence of Simplicity -- Aristotle : The Subject of Ethics is the Good for Man -- Murasaki Shikibu (Lady Murasaki) : The Tale of Genji - Chapter I - Kiritsubo ... MORE4 -- Bernier : The Divided Horsecloth -- Niccolo Machiavelli : Chapter XXII - Ministers -- Chapter XXV - How Far Fortune Influences the Things of this World, and How Far She May Be Resisted -- Francis Bacon : Of Studies -- Icarus and Scylla and Charybdis, or the Middle Way. Explained of Mediocrity in Natural and Moral Philosophy -- William Shakespeare : Hamlet, Act I. Sc. III -- Thomas Hobbes : Introduction -- Chapter IX - Of the Several Subjects of Knowledge -- Chapter X - On Power, Worth, Dignity, Honour, and Worthiness -- Rene Descartes : Discourse on the Method of Rightly Conducting the Reason and Seeking the Truth in the Sciences -- Part I -- Jean-Jacques Rousseau : A Discourse Upon the Origin and the Foundation of the Inequality Among Mankind -- Adam Smith : An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations Book I Of the Causes of Improvement in the Productive Power of Labour and of the Order According to Which its Produce is Naturally Distributed Among the Different Ranks of the People. Chapter I - Of the Division of Labour -- Chapter II - Of the Principle Which Gives Occasion to the Division of Labour -- Book II - Of the Nature, Accumulation, and Employment of Stock -- Introduction -- Chapter II - Of Restraints Upon the Importation from Foreign Countries of Such Goods as can be Produced at Home -- George Washington : Farewell Address -- John Adams : Independence -- Patrick Henry : An Appeal to Arms -- Give Me Liberty, or Give Me Death -- Thomas Jefferson : Inaugural Address -- Thomas Paine : These are the Times That Try Men's Souls -- Ralph Waldo Emerson : Self-Reliance -- Compensation -- Power -- Abraham Lincoln : Lincoln at Gettysburg -- Karl Heinrich Marx : Chapter IV - Position of the Communists in Relation to the Various Existing Opposition Parties -- Andrew Carnegie : Labor - The Upward March of Labor -- The Final Relation Between Capital and Labor - Labor and Capital Partners -- Alfred Marshall : Chapter V - The Scope of Economics -- Chapter VIII - Industrial Organization -- Russell Conwell : Acres of Diamonds -- Elbert Hubbard : Publisher's Preface -- Apologia -- A Message to Garcia -- Louis Brandeis : Industrial Democracy -- Absolutism in Industry -- Thorstein Veblen : An Early Experiment in Trusts -- Alfred North Whitehead : On Foresight -- Requisites for Social Progress -- O. Henry : The Gift of the Magi -- The Unknown Quantity -- George Santayana : The Last Puritan, A Memoir in the Form of a Novel - Epilogue -- Irving Fisher : The Risk Element -- W.E.B. DuBois : The Black United States -- Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (Mahatma Gandhi) : The Birth of Satyagraha -- Calvin Coolidge : The Supports of Civilization -- Thought, The Master of Things -- The Press Under a Free Government -- Government and Business -- Alfred E. Smith : Post-Election Radio Address -- Owen D. Young : General Electric Develops a Labor Policy -- William O. Douglas : Chapter I - The Forces of Disorder -- Destructive forces in finance -- The "Curse of Bigness" -- Chapter V - Corporation Managements -- Arthur E. Nilsson : Making Securities Secure -- Fred Schwed, Jr. : Chapter VIII - Investment - Many Questions and a Few Answers .