Inspirational Quotations

Inspirational Quotes by J. Irwin Miller (American Industrialist)

Joseph Irwin Miller (1909–2004) was an American industrialist, patron of modern art and architecture, and social activist. He was instrumental in developing the Cummins Engine Company and funding civic improvement that turned his hometown of Columbus, Indiana, into a gem of midcentury modern architecture.

Miller was born in Columbus. His wealthy family had established Cummins in 1919. His family also held business interests that spanned banking, real estate, and cornstarch. Miller attended Yale, majored in Greek and Latin, and received a master’s degree at Oxford University.

Miller began his career with Cummins in 1934 but served as a Navy lieutenant during World War II. Returning to Cummins, he was the executive vice president of Cummins from 1944–47, president 1947–51, and chairman 1951–77.

Miller and Cummins’s philanthropic foundation was involved in transforming his deteriorating hometown into a showcase for modern architecture. With original buildings designed by such architects as Eliel and Eero Saarinen, César Pelli, Kevin Roche, and I.M. Pei, Columbus earned the nickname “The Athens of the Prairie.”

A profoundly religious man, Miller was active in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ.) As the first layman to serve as president of the National Council of Churches 1960–63, he championed church activism in civil rights and many other fields. The Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr. once called Miller “the most socially responsible businessman in the country.”

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It is ridiculous ever to forget that you and your business are each implanted in the society of the moment…. We cannot ignore the world of our time. We had better understand it.
J. Irwin Miller
Topics: World

In the search for character and commitment, we must rid ourselves of our inherited, even cherished biases and prejudices. Character, ability and intelligence are not concentrated in one sex over the other, nor in persons with certain accents or in certain races or in persons holding degrees from some universities over others. When we indulge ourselves in such irrational prejudices, we damage ourselves most of all and ultimately assure ourselves of failure in competition with those more open and less biased.
J. Irwin Miller

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