“The man who dies rich dies disgraced”

Andrew Carnegie (1835-1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist who was also one of the biggest philanthropists of the late 19th century. On a visit to Scotland in July 1887, Carnegie said “that public sentiment will decree that a man who dies rich dies disgraced.” The saying is often first credited (incorrectly) to the essay “(The Gospel of) Wealth,” from the June 1889 North American Review, where Carnegie wrote:
 
“The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was his to administer during life, will pass away un-wept, un-honored and un-sung. (...) Of such as these the public verdict will then be: ‘The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.’”
 
Carnegie’s saying remains very popular in the field of philanthropy.
 
       
Wikipedia: Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie ( /kɑrˈneɪɡi/ kar-nay-gee, but commonly /ˈkɑrnɨɡi/ kar-nə-gee or /kɑrˈnɛɡi/ kar-neg-ee) (November 25, 1835 – August 11, 1919) was a Scottish-American industrialist who led the enormous expansion of the American steel industry in the late 19th century. He was also one of the most important philanthropists of his era.
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Quotations
. A man who dies rich dies disgraced.
 
Wikiquote: Andrew Carnegie
Andrew Carnegie (25 November 1835 - 11 August 1919) was a Scottish-American businessman, a major philanthropist, and the founder of the Carnegie Steel Company, which later became U.S. Steel.
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Wealth, from the North American Review
(June 1889 vol. 148, issue 391)
. The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced. (p. 664)
 
14 July 1887, The Nonconformist and Independent (London), pg. 666, col. 2:
(A speech made by Andrew Carnegie in Edinburgh is quoted—ed.)
I have the blood of three generations of the wildest Radicals that ever drew the breath of life in Fife, and. mark me, if they were all just about twenty-five years in advance of their time, their grandson is not more than that to-day—(laughter and cheers)—and he tells you this, that public sentiment will decree that a man who dies rich dies disgraced.
 
These sentiments are not new, but they are not often heard from the lips of our public mean, and. homely as they are, they deserve to be well considered by all whom they concern—from the highest in the land downwards.
 
5 August 1887, Trenton (NJ) Times, “Shorts,” pg. 1, col. 7:
Andrew Carnegie thinks that “public sentiment will come to be that the man who dies rich dies disgraced.”
 
Chronicling America
7 August 1887. The Daily Bee (Omaha, NE), pg. 4, col. 4:
Give the Rich Man a Show.
Boston Post.
Andrew Carnegie thinks that “public sentiment will come to be that the man who dies rich dies disgraced.” As long as he is not disgraced while he lives rich, the man will not be greatly troubled.
 
8 August 1887, The Leader and Herald (Cleveland, OH), “Passing Events,” pg. 4, col. 5:
ANDREW CARNEGIE has given away a great deal of money, and he intends to give away a great deal more, for he is still very rich, and in a recent speech he said: “The man who dies rich dies disgraced.”
   
History Matters
Carnegie Speaks: A Recording of the Gospel of Wealth
In his essay “Wealth,” published in the North American Review in 1889, industrialist Andrew Carnegie argued that individual capitalists were duty bound to play a broader cultural and social role and thus improve the world. Carnegie’s essay later became famous under the title “The Gospel of Wealth,” and in 1908, at age seventy-three, Andrew Carnegie recorded a portion of it under that title.
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Yet the day is not far distant when the man who dies, leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was free for him to administer during life, will pass away “unwept, unhonored, and unsung,” no matter to what use he leaves the dross which he cannot take with him. Of such as these, the public verdict will then be: the man who dies thus rich, dies disgraced. Such in my opinion is the true gospel concerning wealth, obedience to which is destined someday to solve the problems of the rich and the poor, to hasten the coming brotherhood of man, and at last to make our earth a heaven.
 
Pittsburgh (PA) Post-Gazette
Only known recording of Andrew Carnegie gives voice to history
Rare reading ‘Gospel of Wealth’
October 30, 2007 12:00 am
By Dan Fitzpatrick / Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
Andrew Carnegie is 78 years old, far from Pittsburgh and the steelmaking that made him rich. His voice is shrill, laced with an unmistakable Scottish brogue, as he reads from his 1889 essay “The Gospel of Wealth,” a text he altered slightly for a reading inside Thomas Edison’s sound studio in the Bronx, N.Y.
 
The recording, set down 93 years ago on a contraption known as the “Kinetophone,” is far from pristine, both in quality and performance. Amid static, the greatest steelmaker of the 19th century and the father of modern philanthropy clears his voice twice and stumbles a few times before finding his groove at the end of the six-minute track. Raising and lowering his high-pitched voice for emphasis, Mr. Carnegie hammers home his message about the responsibility of millionaires to give away their fortunes: “The day is not far distant when the man who dies leaving behind him millions of available wealth, which was his to administer during life, will pass away un-wept, un-honored and un-sung . . . Of such as these the public verdict will then be: ‘The man who dies thus rich dies disgraced.’”
 
Matisak’s Blog (A Stamp on the World)
The man who dies rich, dies disgraced
Posted on 17/06/2010 by matisak
Said Andrew Carnegie. Investor Warren Buffett and Microsoft founder Bill Gates announced that they are asking hundreds of billionaire Americans to give away at least 50 percent of their wealth to charity. They launched the website http://www.givingpledge.org and it said each person who chooses to pledge will make this statement publicly, along with a letter explaining their decision to pledge.
 
Progress in GP
“The person who dies rich dies disgraced.” Discuss.
31 Aug 2011
Posted by livreordie
Question Analysis
Andrew Carnegie’s original (‘The man who dies rich dies disgraced’) has as its premise the obligation or responsibility of the wealthy to give their riches away before they die. Is it fair to expect them to be philanthropic to such a large extent? Is it really a moral obligation to do so? Essentially, you are called to evaluate the relationship between wealth and charity; given the good Warren Buffett and Bill Gates’ billions have arguably done, is it legitimate to ask for… more?