Carnegie aspired to be a sage and not just a plutocrat. He collected intellectuals, particularly aging British liberals such as Herbert Spencer, William Gladstone, Matthew Arnold, and the poet Edwin Arnold. Carnegie liked to pontificate, and as he grew older it became increasingly hard to shut him up; he could drive the British to distraction with his praise of the United States and its opportunities. He appears to have sincerely believed this even though he had for decades neglected to become an American citizen, doing so only in 1885 when he finally abandoned hope of becoming a British MP.
