Samuel Smiles sought to inspire readers with accounts of successful people and their conduct, which he believed could motivate others to self-educate and independently reach the pinnacles of human achievement.

Writing in 1866, Smiles includes examples from across the different sectors and disciplines of society. Industry and manufacturer, artistic expression, scientific discovery, and leadership are examined as different facets of attainment. Drawing on the example set by various individuals, we are shown how through wit and grit that fortunes were made and persons reached greatness. The author was of the opinion that laws and regulations around human attainment were unnecessary: rather a society should seek to maximize the amount of self-helping, self-teaching individuals.

In the modern-day, Smiles' ideas can be understood through the frame of Victorian morality and the qualities which the society of the mid-late 1800s formally elevated. The ideas expressed by Smiles found approval in the striving groups of his time; independent people dynamically succeeding against the odds was celebrated, and viewed as convincing proof against either collective organization or increasing amounts of legislation as a means of bettering overall conditions.