The American Dream
Defining your own American Dream
• The phrase the American
Dream came into the
American vocabulary
starting in 1867 when
writer, Horatio Alger came
out with his book “Ragged
Dick.” It was a rags-toriches tale of a poor orphan
boy in New York City who
saves his pennies, works
hard and eventually
becomes rich. It became
the model that through
honesty, hard work and
strong determination, the
American Dream was
available to anyone willing
to make the journey.
Dream Makers
• If one advances confidently in the
direction of his dreams, and endeavors to
live the life which he has imagined, he will
meet with a success unexpected in
common hour.
- Henry David Thoreau
Horatio Alger
• Born in Revere,
Massachusetts,
January 13, 1832,
Horatio Alger, Jr.,
grew up in a Calvinist
home with a strong
focus on education
and religion. He
graduated Phi Beta
Kappa from Harvard
Divinity School in
1852.
Horatio Alger
• In recognition of
individuals who have
achieved the
American Dream, no
other organization
has done more than
the Horatio Alger
Association Of
Distinguished
Americans.
Abe Lincoln
• The question is asked
over and over again.
How was it possible
for a young boy born
into poverty in a log
cabin in the
backwoods of
Kentucky with little
formal education to
rise up and become
the 16th President of
the United States,
and perhaps
America’s greatest
President ever?
Abe Lincoln
• A Lifetime of Persistence—
Age Challenge
• 22 Failed in business.
• 23 Defeated for
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Legislature.
24 Failed again in
business.
25 Elected to Legislature.
26 Sweetheart died.
27 Had a nervous
breakdown.
29 Defeated for Speaker.
31 Defeated for Elector.
34 Defeated for Congress.
37 Elected to Congress.
39 Defeated for Congress.
46 Defeated for Senate.
47 Defeated for Vice
President.
49 Defeated for Senate
51 Elected President of the
United States
Henry Ford
• Ford suffered two unsuccessful attempts to build his dream
with the Detroit Automobile Company and the Henry Ford
Company. Then, in 1903, along with other investors
including coal merchant Alexander Malcomson, Ford and
his team contributed $100,000 and incorporated as Ford
Motor Company. Henry Ford became chief engineer and
vice president and later bought out his partners.
• In 1908, Ford realized his ambitious dream of building an
automobile for Americans that was reasonably priced,
efficient, and reliable with the introduction of the Model T.
To meet the increasing demand, Ford moved to a larger
factory in Highland Park, Michigan. It was here that Ford
put to work his innovative, assembly line, bringing the
automobile to the worker, thus saving tremendous time
and resources. Within the span of ten years, half the cars
sold in America were Model T’s.
Henry Ford
• Failure is the
opportunity to begin
again, more
intelligently.
• Whether you think
you can or think you
can’t – you are right.
Franklin D. Roosevelt
• How was it possible
for a man with polio,
who lost the full
usage of both of his
legs, courageously
overcame his
limitations and
became the only
President of the
United States to be
elected to four
consecutive terms?
Franklin D. Roosevelt
• Let me assert my firm
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belief that the only
thing we have to fear
is fear itself.
It is common sense to
take a method and try
it. If it fails, admit it
frankly and try
another. But above
all, try something.
Thomas Edison
• I didn’t fail ten thousand
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times. I successfully
eliminated, ten thousand
times, materials and
combinations which
wouldn’t work.
The three great essentials
to achieve anything
worthwhile are first, hard
work; second, stick-toitiveness; third, common
sense.
Thomas Edison
• Born in 1847, in Milan, Ohio, with a great deal of
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curiosity in his blood, young Thomas Edison was
an inquisitive child at an early age.
While Thomas was just seven years old the
family decided to move to Port Huron, Michigan.
He attended school for only three months where
the teacher labeled him a slow learner, quite
possibly because of his early hearing problems.
Sam Walton
• From humble, hard-
working roots, Sam
Walton built Wal-Mart
Stores, Inc. into the
largest, fastestgrowing, and most
profitable retailer in
the world.
Sam’s Rules for Building a Business
1. COMMIT to your
business.
2. SHARE your profits with
your associates
and treat them as
partners.
3. MOTIVATE your partners.
4. COMMUNICATE
everything you possibly
can to your partners.
5. APPRECIATE everything
your associates
do for the business.
6. CELEBRATE your success.
7. LISTEN to everyone in
your company.
8. EXCEED your customers’
expectations.
9. CONTROL your expenses
better than your
competition.
10.SWIM upstream.
Reflections
• Your dreams are your creative vision of your life
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in the future.
Dream as if you’ll live forever. Live as if you’ll
die today.
The future belongs to those who believe in the
beauty of their dreams.
Each person’s destiny is not a matter of chance;
it’s a matter of choice. It’s determined by what
we say, what we do, and whom we trust.
Reflections
• Most people are looking for security, a
nice, safe, promising future. And there’s
nothing wrong with that. It’s called the
American Dream.
• Nothing is as real as a dream. The world
can change around you, but your dream
will not.
• Whatever the mind of man can conceive
and believe it can achieve.
Chinese Stowaways die while trying
to enter the U.S.
It all begins with a Dream . . .
• You see things
and say, “why?”
But I dream
things that never
were and I say
“why not?”
• The great danger for most of us lies not in setting our
aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too
low, and achieving our mark.”
• What is your dream?
God Bless America
America: The Land of Opportunity
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America: The Land of Opportunity
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