If I was to summarize Samuel Smiles's "Self Help" I could do it in a few words: trifth, minute attention, perserverance, honesty and being in an optimistic mood. I could also call it "the gospel of work".
However, this would not be enough to understand Smiles's conception on a deeper level. The question is: Do you always have to go beneath the surface? My opinion is that sometimes you do and sometimes you don't. It depends on your prior understanding of the subject and what you're looking to gain on your read.
I have combined the two principles: I carefully read a few chosen personal development books. Combined with that I read posts on forums like this and shorter articles/summaries.
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