MOTIVATING TIPS

George Lorimer

American editor and publisher

1 verified quote1 topicAll with editorial commentary

[ Life ]

The man who shaped American business writing arrived in Louisville, Kentucky, during the Gilded Age—though his exact birth year remains obscured by time. Lorimer climbed from printer's devil to literary powerhouse, eventually landing at *The Saturday Evening Post* in 1899 as editor. For 41 years, until his 1937 retirement, he transformed a struggling weekly into the nation's most influential magazine, with circulation peaking at over 3 million copies. His office at Independence Square in Philadelphia became the de facto arbiter of American taste.

[ Words & Works ]

Lorimer never wrote a novel of lasting fame, but his editorial decisions mattered more. He published F. Scott Fitzgerald's early stories, serialized Sinclair Lewis's work, and rejected countless mediocre manuscripts with a curator's eye. His published advice collections—*Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son* (1902) and *Old Gorgon Graham* (1904)—preached earnest individualism without sentimentality. Readers still return to his editorials for their bracing common sense: Lorimer believed magazines could elevate public discourse, and he proved it.

Frequently asked

What are the best George Lorimer quotes?

George Lorimer is best known for quotes on On Money, Plainly. Among the most cited: "It's good to have money and..." from Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son.

How many George Lorimer quotes does MotivatingTips have?

MotivatingTips has 1 verified George Lorimer quote, each with editorial commentary and source verification. Quotes are organized across On Money, Plainly.

What book are George Lorimer's quotes from?

Quotes on MotivatingTips are sourced from Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son.

Are these George Lorimer quotes verified?

Every George Lorimer quote on MotivatingTips includes verified attribution with source, book, chapter, or speech reference where available.

Best George Lorimer Quotes

Hand-picked, verified, and explained.

It's good to have money and the things that money can buy, but it's good, too, to check up once in a while and make sure that you haven't lost the things that money can't buy.

VerifiedLetters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son
Why This Matters

What makes this observation sting a bit is its implicit confession: Lorimer isn't warning you *against* wanting money, but rather admitting that prosperity is a kind of forgetting machine. The phrase "check up once in a while" suggests the work required—not a one-time reckoning but a periodic audit, like you'd schedule with an accountant. A parent might realize mid-career that the comfortable house required so many evening hours away that their teenager now shares updates with friends instead of at the dinner table. The wisdom here isn't that money corrupts, but that its quiet gravitational pull can drift us from what we already possess without our noticing it.

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George Lorimer quotes by topic

Works cited

  • Letters from a Self-Made Merchant to His Son1 quote
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APA Style

George Lorimer Quotes. (n.d.). MotivatingTips. Retrieved May 13, 2026, from https://www.motivatingtips.com/authors/george-lorimer

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George Lorimer Quotes. MotivatingTips, DSS Media, 2026. https://www.motivatingtips.com/authors/george-lorimer, accessed May 13, 2026.

MLA Style

"George Lorimer Quotes." MotivatingTips. DSS Media, 2026. 13 May 2026. https://www.motivatingtips.com/authors/george-lorimer

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