Mimir's Copybook

fuckyeahhistorycrushes:

I’m surprised there hasn’t been any Booker T. Washington love on here yet! The man was truly an inspiring and all-around perfect man. He had immense wisdom despite (or more like because of) the hardships he experienced and then endured with the utmost sense of humility, dedication, and courage. Mr. Washington is the ultimate “success story” that I can’t help but find incredibly inspiring, no matter your race, ethnicity, gender, etc. 

Mr. Washington was born into slavery but despite such a horrific childhood, he rose above it all and even came to a profound understanding with the white south (like those of the coloured people, he believed both black and white Americans were all victims of an unjust institution). This gave him the peace he needed to achieve his dream of an education, not only for himself and his family, but on a whole for his own people. His autobio, Up From Slavery, is one of my more beloved books that I have in my personal library; it’s so dog-eared and highlighted from years of re-reading.

He has many memorable sayings and proverbs, but the one I find myself continuously trying to live by is this: “I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.”

And succeed you did, Mr. Washington!