CHARACTER BUILDING
OTHER BOOKS
BY
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
"UP FROM SLAVERY"
"THE FUTURE OF THE AMERICAN NEGRO"
[Illustration: _The Chapel at Tuskegee Alabama._
WHERE THESE ADDRESSES WERE DELIVERED.
DESIGNED BY A MEMBER OF THE FACULTY, AND BUILT BY THE
STUDENTS.]
CHARACTER
BUILDING
BEING ADDRESSES DELIVERED
ON SUNDAY EVENINGS TO THE
STUDENTS OF TUSKEGEE INSTITUTE
By
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON
[Illustration: Logo]
NEW YORK
DOUBLEDAY, PAGE & COMPANY
1902
Copyright, 1902, by
Booker T. Washington
Published June, 1902
Printed by Manhattan Press,
New York, U. S. A.
TO THE
OFFICERS AND TEACHERS OF
The Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute
WHO HAVE UNSELFISHLY AND LOYALLY
STOOD BY AND SUPPORTED ME
IN MY EFFORTS TO BUILD
THIS INSTITUTION
PUBLISHERS' EXPLANATION
Mr. Washington's habit has for many years been to deliver a practical,
straightforward address to the students of Tuskegee Institute on Sunday
evening. These addresses have had much to do with the building up of
the character of his race, for they are very forcible explanations
of character building. The speaker has put into them his whole moral
earnestness, his broad common-sense and, in many places, his eloquence.
Many of Mr. Washington's friends have said that some of these addresses
are the best of his utterances.
They have an additional interest because they show him at his work and
give an inside view of the school.
This volume is made up of selections from these addresses chosen by Mr.
Washington himself.
PREFACE
A number of years ago, when the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial
Institute was quite small, with only a few dozen students and two or
three teachers, I began the practice of giving what were called Sunday
Evening Talks to the students and teachers. These addresses were always
delivered in a conversational tone and much in the same manner that I
would speak to my own children around my fireside. As the institution
gradually grew from year to year, friends suggested that these
addresses ought to be preserved, and for that reason during the past
few years they have been stenographically reported. For the purpose of
this book they have been somewhat revised; and I am greatly indebted
to my secretary, Mr. Emmett J. Scott, and to Mr. Max Bennett Thrasher,
for assisting me in the revision and in putting them into proper shape
for publication; and to Mr. T. Thomas Fortune for suggesting that these
addresses be published in book form.
In these addresses I have attempted from week to week to speak straight
to the hearts of our students and teachers and visitors concerning the
problems and questions that confront them in their daily life here in
the South. The most encouraging thing in connection with the making of
these addresses has been the close attention which the students and
teachers and visitors have always paid, and the hearty way in which
they have spoken to me of the help that they have received from them.
During the past four years these addresses have been published in the
school paper each week. This paper, _The Tuskegee Student_, has a
wide circulation among our graduates and others in the South, so that
in talking to our students on Sunday evening I have felt in a degree
that I was speaking to a large proportion of the coloured people in
the South. If there is anything in these addresses which will be of
interest or service to a still wider audience, I shall feel I have been
more than repaid for any effort that I have put forth in connection
with them.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON.
Tuskegee, Alabama.
CONTENTS
TWO SIDES OF LIFE 3
HELPING OTHERS 11
SOME OF THE ROCKS AHEAD 19
ON INFLUENCING BY EXAMPLE 27
THE VIRTUE OF SIMPLICITY 33
HAVE YOU DONE YOUR BEST? 43
DON'T BE DISCOURAGED 51
ON GETTING A HOME 57
CALLING THINGS BY THEIR RIGHT NAMES 63
EUROPEAN IMPRESSIONS 71
THE VALUE OF SYSTEM IN HOME LIFE 81
WHAT WILL PAY? 87
EDUCATION THAT EDUCATES 95
THE IMPORTANCE OF BEING RELIABLE 103
THE HIGHEST EDUCATION 111
UNIMPROVED OPPORTUNITIES 119
KEEPING YOUR WORD 133
SOME LESSONS OF THE HOUR 141
THE GOSPEL OF SERVICE 149
YOUR PART IN THE NEGRO CONFERENCE 157
WHAT IS TO BE OUR FUTURE? 165
SOME GREAT LITTLE THINGS 173
TO WOULD-BE TEACHERS 181
THE CULTIVATION OF STABLE HABITS 187
WHAT YOU OUGHT TO DO 193
INDIVIDUAL RESPONSIBILITY 203
GETTING ON IN THE WORLD 213
EACH ONE HIS PART 217
WHAT WOULD FATHER AND MOTHER SAY? 225
OBJECT LESSONS 233
SUBSTANCE VS. SHADOW 239
CHARACTER AS SHOWN IN DRESS 245
SING THE OLD SONGS 251
GETTING DOWN TO MOTHER EARTH 259
A PENNY SAVED 267
GROWTH 277
LAST WORDS 283
CHARACTER BUILDING
TWO SIDES OF LIFE
There are quite a number of divisions into which life can be divided,
but for the purposes of this evening I am going to speak of two; the
bright side of life and the dark side.
In thought, in talk, in action, I think you will find that you can
separate life into these two divisions--the dark side and the bright
side, the discouraging side and the encouraging side. You will find,
too, that there are two classes of people, just as there are two
divisions of the subject. There is one class that is schooling itself,
and constantly training itself, to look upon the dark side of life;
and there is another class, made up of people who are, consciously or
unconsciously, constantly training themselves to look upon the bright
side of life.
Now it is not wise to go too far in either direction. The person
who schools himself to see the dark side of life is likely to make
a mistake, and the person who schools himself to look only upon the
bright side of life, forgetting all else, also is apt to make a
mistake.
Notwithstanding this, I think I am right in saying that the persons
who accomplish most in this world, those to whom on account of their
helpfulness the world looks most for service--those who are most useful
in every way--are those who are constantly seeing and appreciating the
bright side as well as the dark side of life.
You will sometimes find two persons who get up in the morning, perhaps
a morning that is overcast with shadows--a damp, wet, rainy, uninviting
morning--and one of these persons will speak of the morning as being
gloomy, will speak of the mud-puddles about the house, of the rain, and
of all of the disagreeable features. The second person, the one who
has schooled himself to see the brighter side of life, the beautiful
things in life, will speak of the beauties that are in the rain drops,
and the freshness of the newly bathed flowers, shrubs and trees.
Notwithstanding the gloomy and generally disconsolate appearance of
things, he will find something attractive in the scene out of doors,
and will discover something in the gloomy morning that will cheer him.
Suppose that you see these same two persons eat their breakfast.
Perhaps they will find out that the rolls are bad, but that the coffee
is excellent. If the rolls are poor, it is a great deal better in such
a case to get into the habit--a habit that you will find pays from
every standpoint--of being able to forget how unpalatable they are, and
to let your thoughts dwell upon the good and satisfactory coffee. Call
the attention of your near neighbour at the table to the excellence
of the coffee. What is the result of that kind of schooling? You will
grow up to be an individual whom people will like to see coming near
them--an individual to whom people will go for encouragement when the
hours are dark, and when everything seems to be discouraging.
In just the same way, when you go into the class-rooms to recite your
lessons, do not dwell upon any mistakes that you may think you see the
teacher make, or upon any weakness in the presentation of the lesson.
All teachers make mistakes sometimes, and you may depend upon it that
it is an excellent teacher and a person of fine character who, when
he or she has made a mistake, says frankly and plainly, "I have made
a mistake," or "I don't know." It takes a very good and a very bright
teacher to say, "I don't know." No teacher knows everything about
every subject. A good teacher will say frankly and clearly, "I don't
know. I cannot answer that question."
Let me tell you, right here, too, that when you go out from here
to become teachers yourselves--as a large proportion of you will
go--whenever you get to a point where a student asks you a question
which you are not able to answer, or asks you something about a
subject on which you are not well informed, you will find it better
to say frankly and honestly, "I am unable to answer your question."
Your students will respect you a great deal more for your frankness
and honesty. Education is not what a person is able to hold in his
head, so much as it is what a person is able to find. I believe it was
Daniel Webster who said that the truly educated man was not the one
who had all knowledge in his head, but the one who knew where to look
for information upon any subject upon which at any time he might want
information. Each individual who wishes to succeed must get that kind
of discipline. He must get such training that he will know where to go
and get facts, rather than try to train himself to hold all facts in
his head.
I want you to go out from this institution so trained and so developed
that you will be constantly looking for the bright, encouraging and
beautiful things in life. It is the weak individual, as a rule, who
is constantly calling attention to the other side--to the dark and
discouraging things of life. When you go into your classrooms, I
repeat, try to forget and overlook any weak points that you may think
you see. Remember, and dwell upon, the consideration that has been
given to the lesson, the faithfulness with which it was prepared,
and the earnestness with which it is presented. Try to recall and to
remember every good thing and every encouraging thing which has come
under your observation, whether it has been in the class-room, or in
the shop, or in the field. No matter where you are, seize hold on the
encouraging things with which you come in contact.
In connection with the personality of their teachers, it is very
unfortunate for students to form a habit of continually finding fault,
of criticising, of seeing nothing but what the student may think
are weak points. Try to get into a frame of mind where you will be
constantly seeing and calling attention to the strong and beautiful
things which you observe in the life and work of your teachers. Grow
into the habit of talking about the bright side of life. When you meet
a fellow student, a teacher, or anybody, or when you write letters
home, get into the habit of calling attention to the bright things of
life that you have seen, the things that are beautiful, the things that
are charming. Just in proportion as you do this, you will find that
you will not only influence yourself in the right direction, but that
you will also influence others that way. It is a very bad habit to get
into, that of being continually moody and discouraged, and of making
the atmosphere uncomfortable for everybody who comes within ten feet of
you. There are some people who are so constantly looking on the dark
side of life that they cannot see anything but that side. Everything
that comes from their mouths is unpleasant, about this thing and that
thing, and they make the whole atmosphere around them unpleasant for
themselves and for everybody with whom they come in contact. Such
persons are surely undesirable. Why, I have seen people coming up the
road who caused me to feel like wanting to cross over on to the other
side of the way so as not to meet them. I didn't want to hear their
tales of misery and woe. I had heard those tales so many times that I
didn't want to get into the atmosphere of the people who told them.
It is often very easy to influence others in the wrong direction, and
to grow into such a moody fault-finding disposition that one not only
is miserable and unhappy himself, but makes every one with whom he
comes in contact miserable and unhappy. The persons who live constantly
in a fault-finding atmosphere, who see only the dark side of life,
become negative characters. They are the people who never go forward.
They never suggest a line of activity. They live simply on the negative
side of life. Now, as students, you cannot afford to grow in that way.
We want to send each one of you out from here, not as a negative force,
but as a strong, positive, helpful force in the world. You will not
accomplish the task which we expect of you if you go with a moody,
discouraged, fault-finding disposition. To do the most that lies in
you, you must go with a heart and head full of hope and faith in the
world, believing that there is work for you to do, believing that you
are the person to accomplish that work, and the one who is going to
accomplish it.
In nine cases out of ten, the person who cultivates the habit of
looking on the dark side of life is the little person, the miserable
person, the one who is weak in mind, heart and purpose. On the other
hand, the person who cultivates the habit of looking on the bright
side of life, and who calls attention to the beautiful and encouraging
things in life is, in nine cases out of ten, the strong individual,
the one to whom the world goes for intelligent advice and support. I
am trying to get you to see, as students, the best things in life. Do
not be satisfied with second-hand or third-hand things in life. Do not
be satisfied until you have put yourselves into that atmosphere where
you can seize and hold on to the very highest and most beautiful things
that can be got out of life.
HELPING OTHERS
There are a few essential things in an institution of this kind that I
think it is well for you to keep ever before you.
This institution does not exist for your education alone; it does not
exist for your comfort and happiness altogether, although those things
are important, and we keep them in mind; it exists that we may give you
intelligence, skill of hand, and strength of mind and heart; and we
help you in these ways that you, in turn, may help others. We help you
that you may help somebody else, and if you do not do this, when you go
out from here, then our work here has been in vain.
You would be surprised to know how small a part of your own expenses
you pay here. You pay but little; and by reason of that fact it follows
that as trustees of the funds which are given to this institution, we
have no right to keep an individual here who we do not think is going
to be able to go out and help somebody else. We have no right to keep a
student here who we do not think is strong enough to go out and be of
assistance to somebody else. We are here for the purpose of educating
you, that you may become strong, intelligent and helpful.
If you were paying the cost of your board here, and for your tuition,
and fuel and lights, then we should have a different problem. But so
long as it is true that you pay so small a proportion of your expenses
as you do, we must keep in view the fact that we have no right to
keep a student here, no matter how much we may sympathize with him
or her, unless that student is going to be able to do somebody else
some good. Every young man and every young woman should feel that he
or she is here on trust, that every day here is a sacred day, that it
is a day that belongs to the race. Our graduates, and the majority of
the students that have gone out from here, have ever had an unselfish
spirit, and have been willing to go out and work at first for small
salaries, and in uncomfortable places, where in a large degree
conditions have been discouraging and desolate. We believe that kind of
spirit will continue to exist in this institution, and that we shall
continue to have students who will go out from here to make other
persons strong and useful.
Now no individual can help another individual unless he himself is
strong. You notice that the curriculum here goes along in three
directions--along the line of labour, of academic training, and of
moral and religious training. We expect those who are here to keep
strong, and to make themselves efficient in these three directions, in
each of which you are to learn to be leaders.
Some people are able to do a thing when they are directed to do it, but
people of that kind are not worth very much. There are people in the
world who never think, who never map out anything for themselves, who
have to wait to be told what to do. People of that kind are not worth
anything. They really ought to pay rent for the air they breath, for
they only vitiate it. Now we do not want such people as those here. We
want people who are going to think, people who are going to prepare
themselves. I noticed an incident this morning. Did you ever hear that
side door creak on its hinges before this morning? The janitor ought
to have noticed that creaking and put some oil on the hinges without
waiting to be told to do it. Then, again, this morning I noticed that
after it had been raining hard for twenty-four hours, when it was wet
and muddy, no provision had been made to protect the hogs at the sty,
and they were completely covered with mud. Now the person who had
charge of the sty should not have waited for some one to tell him to
go down there and put some straw in for bedding and put boards over
the sty to keep the animals dry. No one in charge of the hogs ought to
have waited to be told to do a thing like that. The kind of persons we
want here are those who are not going to wait for you to tell them to
do such things, but who will think of them for themselves and do them.
If we cannot turn out a man here who is capable of taking care of a pig
sty, how can we expect him to take care of affairs of State?
Then, again, some of you are expected to take care of the roads. I
should have liked to have seen boys this morning so much interested
in working on the roads that they would have put sawdust from this
building to the gate. I should have liked to see them put down some
boards, and arrange for the water to drain off. We want such fellows
as those here. The ones we want are the ones who are going to think
of such things as these without being told. That is the only kind of
people worth having. Those who have to wait to have somebody else put
ideas into their minds are not worth much of anything. And, to be plain
with you, we cannot have such people here. We want you to be thinkers,
to be leaders.
Yesterday, and the night before, I travelled on the Mobile and Ohio
railroad from St. Louis to Montgomery, and there was a young man on
the same train who was not more than twenty years old, I believe, who
recently had been appointed a special freight agent of the road. All
his conversation was about freight. He talked freight to me and to
everybody else. He would ask this man and that man if they had any
freight, and if so he would tell them that they must have it shipped
over the Mobile and Ohio railroad. Now that man will be general freight
agent of that road some day: he may be president of the road. But
suppose he had sat down and gone to sleep, and had waited for some one
to come to him to inquire the best way to ship freight. Do you suppose
he would ever have secured any freight to ship?
Begin to think. If you cannot learn to think, why, you will be of no
use to yourself or anybody else. Every once in a while--about every
three months--we have to go through the process of "weeding out" among
the students. We are going to make that "weeding out" process more
strict this year than ever before. We are compelled to get rid of every
student here who is weak in mind, weak in morals, or weak in industry.
We cannot keep a student here unless he counts for one. You must count
one yourself. You eat for one, you drink for one, and you sleep for
one; and so you will have to count for one if you are going to stay
here.
I want you to go out into the world, not to have an easy time, but to
make sacrifices, and to help somebody else. There are those who need
your help and your sacrifice. You may be called upon to sacrifice a
great deal; you may have to work for small salaries; you may have
to teach school in uncomfortable buildings; you may have to work in
desolate places, and the surroundings may be in every way discouraging.
And when I speak of your going out into life, I do not confine you to
the schoolroom. I believe that those who go out and become farmers, and
leaders in other directions, as well as teachers, are to succeed.
The most interesting thing connected with this institution is the
magnificent record that our graduates are making. As the institution
grows larger, we do not want to lose the spirit of self-sacrifice, the
spirit of usefulness which the graduates and the students who have gone
out from here have shown. We want you to help somebody else. We want
you not to think of yourselves alone. The more you do to make somebody
else happy, the more happiness will you receive in turn. If you want
to be happy, if you want to live a contented life, if you want to live
a life of genuine pleasure, do something for somebody else. When you
feel unhappy, disagreeable and miserable, go to some one else who is
miserable and do that person an act of kindness, and you will find that
you will be made happy. The miserable persons in this world are the
ones whose hearts are narrow and hard; the happy ones are those who
have great big hearts. Such persons are always happy.
SOME OF THE ROCKS AHEAD
I feel sure that I can be of some degree of service to you to-night, in
helping you to anticipate some of the troubles that you are going to
meet during the coming year. "Do not look for trouble," is a safe maxim
to follow, but it is equally safe to prepare for trouble.
All of you realize, of course, that where we have so large a machine
as we happen to have here--when I speak of machine in this way you
will understand that I refer to the school--it takes some time to get
it into perfect order, or anything bordering upon perfect running
order. Now, I repeat, it is the wise individual who prepares himself
beforehand for the day of difficulties, for the day of discouragements,
for the rainy day. It is the wise individual who makes up his mind
that life is not going to be all sunshine, that all is not going to be
perpetual pleasure. What is true of everyday life is true of school
life; there are a number of difficulties which it is probable you are
going to meet or which are going to meet you during the coming school
year, and which, if possible, I want you to prepare yourselves against
as wisely as you can.
In the first place, a great many of you are going to be
disappointed--if this has not already been the case--in the classes
to which you will be assigned. The average individual thinks he knows
a great deal more than he does know. The individual who really knows
more than he thinks he knows is very rare indeed. When a student
gets to the point where he knows more than he thinks he knows, that
student is about ready to leave school. I wish a very large number of
you had reached that point. I repeat, numbers of you are going to be
disappointed during the year as to the classes to which you are going
to be assigned.
Now, I want to give you this advice. Before you go to an institution
examine the catalogue of that school. The catalogue will give you all
the information about the school. Then make up your mind whether or
not you have faith in that institution. Find out if it is the school
you wish to attend, and then decide if you have faith enough in it to
become its pupil. Then, if you have once done this, make up your mind
that those who are placed over you as your teachers have had more
experience than you can have had, and that they are therefore able to
advise you as to your classes. Make up your mind that if you are asked
to go into a lower class than you think your ability entitles you to go
into, you are going to follow the advice and instruction of the people
who are older than you and who have more education than you have.
Another way in which you are going to be disappointed, and be made
homesick, perhaps, if you have not already been made so, is in the
rooms to which you are going to be assigned. You are going to get
rooms that you do not like. They will not be, perhaps, as attractive
as you desire, or they will be too crowded. You are going to be given
persons for room mates with whom you think it is going to be impossible
to get along pleasantly, people who are not congenial to you. During
the hot months your rooms are going to be too hot, and during the
cold months they are going to be too cold. You are going to meet with
all these difficulties in your rooms. Make up your mind that you are
going to conquer them. I have often said that the students who in the
early years of this school had such hard times with their rooms have
succeeded grandly. Many of you now live in palaces, compared to the
rooms which those students had. I am sure that the students who attend
this school find that the institution is better fitted every year to
take care of them than it was the year previous. From year to year
there has been a steady growth in the accommodations, and that is all
that we can wish or expect. From year to year we do not forget that it
is our duty to make students more comfortable than in previous years,
and we are steadily growing, in that direction. But notwithstanding all
this we cannot do all that we want to do.
Make up your minds, then, that you are going to find difficulties in
your room, in reference to your room mates, the heat, the cold, and any
number of things that concern your stay in the buildings. But in all
these matters keep in mind the high purpose for which you came here--to
get an education. Get that thought into your heart and body, and it
will enable you to be the master of all these little things, all these
minor and temporary obstacles.
Many of you are going to be disappointed in regard to your food.
Notwithstanding all the care we may try to take, and want to take,
many of you are going to be disappointed in this respect. But how
little is the meaning of one meal, how little a thing is being
inconvenienced by one meal, as compared with something that is going
to be a part of you all the remainder of your lives. It is not for the
food, the room, or the minor things that you have come here; it is to
get something into your minds and hearts that will make you better,
that will stand by you and hold you up, and make you useful all through
life.
Some of you are going to find it difficult to obey orders. Sometimes
orders will be given you which you think are wrong and unjust. Perhaps
orders will be given you sometimes that really are unjust. In that
respect no institution is perfect. But I want you to learn this lesson
in respect to orders--that it is always best to learn to obey orders
and respect authority--that it is better ten times over for you to obey
an order that you know is wrong, and which perhaps was given you in a
wrong spirit or with a mistaken motive. It is better for you to obey
even such an order as that, than it is for any individual to get into
the habit of disobeying and not respecting those in authority.
Make up your mind that if you want to add to your happiness and
strength of character, you are, before all things else, going to learn
to obey. If it should happen that for a minute, or five minutes, one of
your fellow-students is placed in authority over you, that student's
commands should be sacred. You should obey his commands just as quickly
as you would obey those of the highest officer in this institution.
Learn that it is no disgrace to obey those in authority. One of the
highest and surest signs of civilization is that a people have learned
to obey the commands of those who are placed over them. I want to add
here that it is to the credit of this institution that, with very few
exceptions, the students have always been ready and willing to respect
authority.
I want you to see, as I think you will see, that having a hard time,
running up against difficulties here and there, helps to make an
individual strong, helps to make him powerful. This is the point I
want to make with you; that one of the reasons you are here is that
you may learn to overcome difficulties. I have named some that you may
expect to meet, but I have not named them all. They will keep springing
up all the time. Just in proportion as you learn to rise above them
and trample them under your feet, just in that proportion will you
accomplish the high purpose for which you came here, and help to
accomplish the purpose for which this institution exists.
ON INFLUENCING BY EXAMPLE
A few evenings ago, while in Cincinnati, I was very pleasantly
surprised after speaking at a large meeting to be invited by a company
of young coloured men to attend for a few minutes a reception at their
club room. I expected, when I went to the place designated, to find a
number of young men who, perhaps, had hired a room and fitted it up
for the purpose of gratifying their own selfish pleasures. I found
that this was not the case. Instead, I found fifteen young men whose
ages ranged from eighteen to twenty years, who had banded themselves
together in a club known as the "Winona Club," for the purpose of
improving themselves, and further, for the purpose, so far as possible,
of getting hold of other young coloured men in the city who were
inclined in the wrong direction. I found a room beautifully fitted up,
with a carpet on the floor, with beautiful pictures upon the walls,
with books and pictures in their little library, and with fifteen of
the brightest, most honest, and cleanest looking young men that it has
been my pleasure to meet for a long time.
It was a very pleasant surprise to find these young men, especially
in the midst of the temptations of a Northern city, in the midst of
evil surroundings, banded together for influencing others in the right
direction.
These young men came together, and at their first meeting said that
they were going to band themselves together for the purpose of
improving themselves and helping others. They said that the first
article in their constitution should be to the effect that there should
be no gambling in that club; that there must be no strong drink allowed
in that club, and that there should be nothing there that was not in
keeping with the life of a true and high-minded gentleman.
I repeat that it was very pleasant and encouraging for me to find such
work as this going on in Cincinnati. What was equally gratifying, and
surprising, was that at the close of the reception they presented me
with a neat sum of money which they had collected, and asked that this
money be used to defray the expenses of some student at the school here.
Now the point I especially want to make to-night is this: all of you
must bear in mind the fact that you are not only to keep yourselves
clean, and pure, and sober, and true, in every respect, but you owe a
constant responsibility to yourself to see that you exert a helpful
influence on others also.
A large proportion of you are to go from here into great cities. Some
of you will go into such cities as Montgomery, and some, perhaps, will
go into the cities of the North--although I hope that the most of you
will see your way clear to remain in the South. I believe that you
will do better to remain in the country districts than to go into the
cities. I believe that you will find it to your advantage in every
way to try to live in a small town, or in a country district, rather
than in a city. I believe that we are at our best in country life--in
agricultural life--and too often at our worst in city life. Now when
you go out into the world for yourselves, you must remember in the
first place that you cannot hold yourselves up unless you keep engaged
and out of idleness. No idle person is ever safe, whether he be rich or
poor. Make up your minds, whether you are to live in the city or in the
country, that you are going to be constantly employed.
In a rich and prosperous country like America there is absolutely no
excuse for persons living in idleness. I have little patience with
persons who go around whining that they cannot find anything to do.
Especially is this true in the South. Where the soil is cheap there is
little or no excuse for any man or woman going about complaining that
he or she cannot find work. You cannot set proper examples unless you,
yourself, are constantly employed. See to it, then, whether you live
in a city, a town, or in a country district, that you are constantly
employed when you are not engaged in the proper kind of recreation,
or in rest. Unless you do this you will find that you will go down as
thousands of our young men have gone down--as thousands of our young
men are constantly going down--who yield to the temptations which beset
them.
Refrain from staking your earnings upon games of chance. See to it that
you pass by those things which tend to your degradation. Teach this
to others. Teach those with whom you come in contact that they cannot
lead strong, moral lives unless they keep away from the gambling table.
See to it that you regulate your life properly; that you regulate
your hours of sleep. Have the proper kinds of recreation. Quite a
number of our young men in the cities stay up until twelve, one and
two o'clock each night. Sometimes they are at a dance, and sometimes
at the gambling table, or in some brothel, or drinking in some saloon.
As a result they go late to their work, and in a short time you hear
them complaining about having lost their positions. They will tell you
that they have lost their jobs on account of race prejudice, or because
their former employers are not going to hire coloured help any longer.
But you will find, if you learn the real circumstances, that it is much
more likely they have lost their jobs because they were not punctual,
or on account of carelessness.
Then, too, you will find that you will go down if you yield to the
temptation of indulging in strong drink. That is a thing that is
carrying a great many of our young men down. I do not say that all of
our men are of this class, or that all of them yield to temptations,
because I can go into many of the large cities and find just such men
as those in Cincinnati to whom I have referred. You cannot hope to
succeed if you keep bad company. As far as possible try to form the
habit of spending your nights at home. There is nothing worse for a
young man or young woman than to get into the habit of thinking that he
or she must spend every night on the street or in some public place.
I want you, as you go out from this institution, whether you are
graduates or not, whether you have been here one year or four years--to
go out with the idea that you must set a high example for every one
in your community. You must remember that the people are watching you
every day. If you yield to the temptation of strong drink, of going
into bad company, others will do the same thing. They will shape their
lives after yours. You must so shape your lives that the hundreds and
thousands of those who are looking to you for guidance may profit by
your example.
THE VIRTUE OF SIMPLICITY
I hope that you all paid strict attention to what Mr. William H.
Baldwin, Jr., who recently spoke to you, had to say. In the few words
that he spoke, I think he told you the platform upon which this
institution has been built. You will remember that he laid a great deal
of stress upon the importance of the institution remaining simple, of
keeping that degree of simplicity and thoroughness that it has always
possessed.
It is true that in the last few months the institution has come into
a great deal of prominence, and is meeting with what the world calls
"success." But we must remember that very often it is with institutions
as it is with individuals--success may injure them more than poverty.
Now, this institution will continue to succeed, will continue to have
the good will and confidence, the co-operation of the best and wisest
and most generous people in the country, just so long as its faculty,
its students, and all connected with it, remain simple, earnest and
thorough. Just as soon as in any department there are indications
that we are beginning to become what the world calls "stuck up,"
just so soon will the people lose confidence in us, and will fail to
support us, and just so soon will the institution begin to decay. We
will grow in buildings, in industries, in apparatus, in the number of
teachers and of students, and in the confidence of the people, just
in proportion as we do what the institution has set out to do; that
is, teach young men and women how to live simple, plain and honourable
lives by learning how to do something uncommonly well.
When I speak of humbleness and simplicity, I do not mean that it is
necessary for us to lose sight of what the world calls manhood and
womanhood; that it is necessary to be cringing and unmanly; but you
will find, in the long run, that the people who have the greatest
influence in the world are the humble and simple ones.
Now, we must not only remain humble, but we must be very sure that
whatever is done in every department of the school is thoroughly done.
Any institution runs a great risk when it begins to grow--to grow
larger in numbers or larger in any respect. It can succeed then only
in proportion as those who have responsibilities are conscientious in
the highest degree. We can succeed in putting up good buildings only in
proportion as every one performs well his part in the erection of each
building. We can succeed only in proportion as the student who makes
the mortar, who lays the bricks, puts his whole conscience into that
work, and does it just as thoroughly as it is possible for him to do
it. If he is mixing mortar, he must do it just as well as he can, and
then, to-morrow, must do it still better than he did it to-day, and the
next week better than he did it this week. The student who lays the
bricks must learn to lay each brick as well as it is possible for him
to lay it, and then do still better work on the morrow.
We must remember, too, that we have a certain amount of responsibility
to care for our buildings, and that a great deal of interest should
be taken not only in putting up all our buildings thoroughly, but in
looking out for their preservation as well. We must see to it that the
buildings which the students have worked so hard to erect, and which
generous friends have so kindly enabled us to secure, are not marred in
any way. You must make new students know that this property is yours,
and that every building here is yours. No student has any right to mar
in any way what you have worked so hard to erect, and your friends have
been generous enough to provide. If you find a student drawing a lead
pencil across a piece of plastering which you have put on, you must
let that student know that he is destroying what you have worked hard
to create, and that when he destroys that building he is destroying
something which students yet to come should have the opportunity of
enjoying.
We want to be sure that in every industry, in every department of the
institution, there is simplicity, humbleness, thoroughness. Whatever
is intrusted to you to do in the industrial departments, in the class
rooms, be sure that you put your whole heart into that thing.
We do not expect to have fine, costly buildings, nor do we want to
have them. But we do expect to have well-constructed buildings, and
attractive buildings; and, if we can go on in this simple, humble way,
the time will come when we shall have all the buildings we need. Just
in proportion as our friends see that we are worthy of these good
things, they will come to us.
We want to be sure, also, that in no department is there any
wastefulness. We must try to make every dollar go as far as possible.
"We must stretch a dollar," as I have heard Mr. Baldwin say, "until
it can be stretched no further." Now, there will be waste unless we
put our conscience into everything that we do. There will be waste in
the boarding department, in the academic department, in the industrial
department, in the religious department, in all the departments about
us, unless we put our conscience into everything that we do. Let us be
sure that not a single dollar that is given to us is wasted, because
the same people who give to us are called upon almost every day in the
week, each year, to give for hundreds of purposes, and they have to
choose which they will support. They must decide whether they want to
give to this cause, or to that cause, and they will give to us if we
make them feel that we are more worthy than other similar institutions.
We want, also, to be sure that we remain simple in our dress and in all
our outward appearance. I do not like to see a young man who is poor,
and whose tuition is being paid by some one, and who has no books,
sometimes has no socks, sometimes has no decent shoes, wearing a white,
stiff, shining collar which he has sent away to be laundered. I do not
like to ask people to give money for such a young man as that. It is
much better for a young man to learn to launder his collars himself,
than to pretend to the world that he is what he is not. When you send a
collar to the city laundry, it indicates that you have a bank account;
it indicates that you have money ahead, and can afford that luxury. Now
I do not believe that you can afford it; and that kind of pretence and
that kind of acting do not pay.
Get right down to business, and, as I have said, if we cannot do up
your collars well enough here to suit you, why, get some soap and
water, and starch, and an iron, and learn to launder your own collars,
and keep on laundering them until you can do them better than anybody
else.
I am not trying to discourage you about wearing nice collars. I like
to see every collar shine. I like to see every collar as bright as
possible. I like to see you wear good, attractive collars. I do not,
however, want you to get the idea that collars make the man. You quite
often see fine cuffs and collars, when there is no real man there. You
want to be sure to get the man first. Be sure that the man is there,
and if he is, the collars and the cuffs will come in due time. If there
is no man there, we may put on all the collars and cuffs we can get,
and we shall find that they will not make the man.
When you have finished school, after you have gone out and established
yourselves in some kind of business, after you have learned to save
money, and have got a good bank account ahead, if you are where the
laundering is not sufficiently well done to suit you, why perhaps you
can afford to send your collars forty or fifty miles away. But as I
see you young men, I do not believe you can afford it. And if you can
afford it, why, I should like to have you pay that money for a part of
your tuition, which we now have to get some one else to pay for you.
You want to be very sure, too, that as you go out into the world,
you go out not ashamed to work; not ashamed to put in practice what
you have learned here. As I come in contact with our graduates, I am
very glad to be able to say that in almost no instance have I found a
student who has been at Tuskegee long enough to learn the ways of the
institution, or a graduate who has been ashamed to use his hands. Now
that reputation we want to keep up. We want to be sure that such a
reputation as this follows every student who goes out.
And then be very sure that you are simple in your words and your
language. Write your letters in the simplest and plainest manner
possible. Who of you did not understand what was said by Mr. John D.
Rockefeller, Jr., when he spoke from this platform a few evenings ago?
Was there a single word, or a single reference, or figure of speech,
that he used that you did not understand the full force of, or did not
appreciate? Here is a man whose father is perhaps the richest man in
the world, and yet there was no "tomfoolery" about his speech. Every
word was simple and plain, and everybody could understand everything
that he said. He used no Latin or Greek quotations.
Some people get the idea that if they can get a little education, and
a little money ahead, and can talk so that no one can understand them,
they are educated. That is a great mistake, because nobody understands
them, and they do not understand themselves. Now, the world has no
sympathy with that kind of thing. If you have anything to write, write
it in the plainest manner possible. Use just as few words as possible,
and as simple words as possible. If you can get a word with one
syllable that will express your meaning, use it in preference to one
of two syllables. If you can not get a suitable word of one syllable,
try to get one of two syllables instead of three or four. At any rate
make your words just as short as possible, and your sentences as short
and simple as you can make them. There is great power in simplicity,
simplicity of speech, simplicity of life in every form. The world has
no patience with people who are superficial, who are trying to show
off, who are trying to be what the world knows they are not.
You know you sometimes get frightened and discouraged about the laws
that some of the States are inclined to pass, and that some of them
are passing, but there is no State, there is no municipality, there is
no power on earth, that can neutralize the influence of a high, pure,
simple and useful life. Every individual who learns to live such a life
will find an opportunity to make his influence felt.
No one can in any way permanently hold back a race of people who are
getting those elements of strength which the world recognizes, which
the world has always recognized, and which it always will recognize,
as indicating the highest type of manhood and womanhood. There is
nothing, then, to be discouraged about. We are going forward, and we
shall keep going forward if we do not let these difficulties which
sometimes occur discourage us. You will find that every man and every
woman who is worthy to be respected and praised and recognized will be
respected and praised and recognized.
HAVE YOU DONE YOUR BEST?
[This talk was given at the middle of the school year.]
If you have not already done so--and I hope you have--I think that you
will find this a convenient season for each one of you to stop and
to consider your school-year very carefully; to consider your life
in school from every point of view; to place yourselves, as it were,
in the presence of your parents, or your friends at home; to place
yourselves in the presence of those who stand by and support this
institution; to place yourselves in the presence of your teachers and
of all who are in any way interested in you.
Now, suppose you were to-night sitting down by your parents' side,
by their fireside, looking them in the face, or by the side of your
nearest and dearest friends, those who have done the most for you,
those who have stood by you most closely. Suppose you were in that
position. I want to ask you to answer this question, In considering
your school life--in your studies, for example--during the year, thus
far, have you done your best?
Have you been really honest with your parents, who have struggled, who
have sacrificed, who have toiled for years, in ways you do not know of,
in order that you might come here, and in order that you might remain
here? Have you really been interested in them? Have you really been
honest with your teachers? Have you been honest with those who support
this institution? Have you really, in a word, in the preparation and
recitation of your lessons, done your level best? Right out from your
hearts, have you done your best? I fear that a great many of you, when
you look your conscience squarely in the face, when you get right down
to your real selves, at the bottom of your lives, must answer that you
have not done your best. There have been precious minutes, there have
been precious hours, that you have completely thrown away, hours for
which you cannot show a single return.
Now, if you have not done your level best, right out straight from
your heart, in the preparation and recitation of your lessons, and in
all your work, it is not too late for you to make amends. I should be
very sorry if I waited until the end of the term to remind you of this,
because it would then be too late. There would be many of you with
long faces, who would say, if you were reminded then, that you could
have done so much better, would have been so much more honest with your
parents and friends, if you had only been reminded earlier; and that in
every way you would have made your lives so different from what they
had been. Now, it isn't too late.