It was this personal adaptability, indeed, that explains Carnegie's success.

In the narrow, methodical sense he was not a business man at all; he knew and cared nothing for its dull routine and its labyrinthine details.

As a practical steel man his position is a negligible one.

Though he was profoundly impressed by his first sight of a Bessemer converter, he had little interest in the every-day process of making steel.

He had also many personal weaknesses: his egotism was marked, he loved applause, he was always seeking opportunities for self-exploitation, and he even aspired to fame as an author and philosopher.