andrew carnegie—a philanthropist who gives his fortune away
慈善家——安德魯·卡內基
andrew carnegie's life was a true “rags to riches” story. born to a poor scottish family that immigrated to the united states， carnegie became a powerful businessman and a leading force in the american steel industry. today， he is remembered as an industrialist， a millionaire， and a philanthropist. that is because carnegie quite believed that the wealthy had an obligation to give back to society， so he donated much of his fortune to causes like education and peace.
what is known to all of us is that all kids learn from their parents. when he was a child， andrew carnegie learned values from both of his parents. but their values were very different and often in conflict. from his father， andrew learned the value of helping those who are less fortunate. that is because carnegie's father， will carnegie， was part of british working class in scotland， who adamantinely believed in making better conditions for the workingman. will carnegie， was a weaver but when he was unable to find work in america he tried to produce and sell his own cloth. he died at the age of 51 when andrew was 20 years old and the only breadwinner for the family. given these rigorous living circumstances， carnegie's mother had to teach him that he needed to put his own needs before those of others in order to survive. this is a direct result of the family's poverty， especially after his father died.
when he grew up， carnegie was extremely successful in business. he became a very wealthy man. in fact， when he retired， he was believed to be the richest man in the world. but he had mixed feelings about some of the ways in which he made his fortune， so as a result， he decided to give much of his money away. his father would have liked knowing that by the time he died， carnegie had given away over $350 million， equal to more than $3 billion in dollar nowadays. of course， it is interesting to see how carnegie's parents' opposing values affected him as a person. however， carnegie followed his father's value finally and donated part of his fortune to the improvement of the working conditions of the workingman.
sometimes， can you imagine you are the richest person in the world and then giving all your money away？ how would you feel then？ of course， it is quite difficult for most of us to do so， but that's exactly what andrew carnegie did. after retiring in 1901 at the age of 66 as the world's richest man， andrew carnegie wanted to become a philanthropist， a person who gives money to good causes， like commonweal. he believed in the “gospel of wealth”， which meant that wealthy people were obligated to give their money back to others in society. “he who dies rich， dies disgraced，” that is what he often said. he also strongly believed that the wealthy had a moral obligation to serve as stewards to society. the two causes carnegie had a great passion for were education and international peace. foremost， he believed that everyone was entitled to a proper education. for this reason， carnegie was involved with the founding of many schools and universities. what is interesting is that carnegie had made some charitable donations before 1901， but after that time， giving his money away became his new occupation. in 1902 he founded the carnegie institution to fund scientific research and established a pension fund for teachers with a $10 million donation. among his praiseworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name， including the carnegie institute of pittsburgh.