Self-Education may have been the most widely accepted way of becoming successful. In the 19th century, it wasn't uncommon to have an average American listen to lectures on astronomy, medicine, and other technical matters. Many viewed education as a way to get more out of life. They were inspired by such entrepreneurs such as Carnegie, Rockefeller, and Benjamin Franklin who were able to go from the common working class to the elite of society. With the belief that education was the highway to a better life, these young men read from these writings ideas like: "Without education , the poor would be unfairly hampered in the natural process of self-advancement." "There are no gifts that books do not bring us; there are no privileges or spheres of life they do not open to us." If these powerful quotes were unable to affect young men, then maybe a quote from Timothy Shay Arthur could impact them with his outlooks: "A young mechanic, who has possessed but few educational advantages, will find himself deficient in many things and be painfully conscious of his inability to procure a comfortable livelihood for himself and those who may depend upon him, if at some future day loss of health, casualty, or other circumstance, should render him unable to work at his trade." These books emphasized that self-education was the driving force to empower their minds and their position in society. And that without education your success was not only limited to certain unpriveledging trades but you will have given yourself no options if in the future you are unable to continue in your current trade.