Orison Swett Marden
American writer (1848-1924)
Dr. Orison Swett Marden (1848–1924) was an American inspirational author who wrote about achieving success in life and founded Success magazine in 1897. His writings discussed principles and virtues which Marden argued would make for a successful life through adoption of the New Thought philosophy.
His first book, Pushing to the Front (1894), became an instant best-seller. Marden later published fifty or more books and booklets, averaging two titles per year.
Biography
The "Bound Out" Orphan
Marden was born 11 June 1848 in Thornton Gore, New Hampshire, to Lewis and Martha Marden. When he was three years old, his mother died at the age of 22, leaving Orison and his two sisters in the care of their father, who was a farmer, hunter, and trapper. When Orison was seven years old, his father died from injuries incurred while in the woods. Consequently, the children were shuttled from one guardian to another, with Orison working for five successive families as a "hired boy" to earn his keep.
During his early to mid-teens, Marden discovered a book entitled Self-Help by Scottish author Samuel Smiles in an attic.
“Orison Swett Marden” enters the record as american writer (1848-1924). Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what Orison, Swett and Marden can confirm, complicate or overturn.
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Biographical claims are most persuasive when dates, appointments and relationships can be traced to records created close to the events described. The source revision retrieved here is dated May 30, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q7102841. VIAF identifies the subject as 51699595. The Library of Congress control number is n87822699. 3 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1848, 1924, 1897 and 1894.
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This entry incorporates text from “Orison Swett Marden” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.