Self-help..............................

     Drew began business on his own account, with a capital of a few shillings; but his character for steadiness was such that a neighboring miller offered him a loan, which was accepted, and, success attending his industry, the debt was repaid at the end of the year.  He started with a determination to "owe no man anything," and he held to it in the midst of many privations.  Often he went to bed supperless, to avoid rising in debt.  His ambition was to achieve independence by industry and economy, and in this he gradually succeeded.  In the midst of incessant labour, he sedulously strove to improve his mind, studying astronomy, history, and metaphysics.  He was induced to pursue the latter study chiefly because it required fewer books to consult that either of the others.  "It appeared to be a thorny path," he said, "but I determined, nevertheless, to enter, and accordingly began to tread it."
-Samuel Smiles, as excerpted from his book, Self Help; With Illustrations of Conduct and Perseverance.  The Drew being discussed is Samuel Drew.