,putting the ,most into ,life ,illustration3 ,copyright #aijb by ,pach ,bros4 ,putting the ,most ,into ,life ,by ,booker ,t4 ,washington ,author of 8,up from ,slavery0 ,illustration ,new ,york ,thomas ,y4 ,crowell ,co4 ,publishers ,copyright1 #aijf1 by ,thomas ,y4 ,crowell ,co4 ,published ,september1 #aijf ,composition and electrotype plates by ,d4 ,b4 ,updike1 ,the ,merrymount ,press1 ,boston ,the chapters in this little book were originally part of a series of ,sunday ,evening ,talks given by the ,principal to the students of the ,tuskegee ,normal and ,industrial ,institute4 ,they have been recast from the second to the third person1 and many local allusions have been cut out4 ,they are now sent out1 in response to repeated requests1 to a larger audience than that to which they were first spoken4 ,,booker ,t4 ,,washington ,tuskegee ,institute1 ,alabama ,august #aj1 #aijf ,a ,table of ,contents ,i4 ,health a ,requisite for ,effective ,living #a ,,ii4 ,some of the ,qualities ,essential to the most ,successful ,school ,life #e ,,iii4 ,a ,word to ,prospective ,teachers about putting the ,most into their ,work #i ,,iv4 ,industrial ,efficiency an ,aid to the ,higher ,life #ag ,v4 ,making ,religion a ,vital ,part of ,living #bc ,,vi4 ,on making our ,race ,life count in the ,life of the ,nation #cj ,putting the ,most into ,life i ,health a ,requisite for ,effective ,living ,the individual who puts the most into life is the one who gets the most out of life4 ,the first requisite for making life effective for one's self or society is a sound body4 ,there have been many people who in spite of weak bodies have enriched the world by noble thought and work4 ,there has been a long line of physically weak men who have helped the world onward2 but the rule holds that the best work has been done by men and women of vigorous health4 ,it is important that the ,negro race in its present condition shall learn just as quickly as possible how to have good1 strong1 healthy working bodies1 for so much is dependent upon them4 ,in the world of industry1 the world of commerce1 all mental activity and spiritual endeavor1--no matter in what direction one's attention or energies may be turned1 strong bodies are needed to meet the demand4 ,there are a few simple rules which should serve as guide-posts to those who would make the most of their physical being4 ,one of the conditions of a good1 strong1 working body is contact with fresh air4 ,in the early days of this school1 when we were housed in shacks and cabins1 whatever else we lacked1 we were1 by virtue of necessity1 abundantly supplied with air2 but now that we are getting into plastered buildings1 with good floors and windows and doors1 there is danger of suffering from poorly ventilated rooms and a lack of health-giving air4 ,those who live in the large cities would do well to become disciples of ,wordsworth1 and with him learn to know the inspiration and strength that come from wood and forest1--the joy of intimate acquaintance with birds and flowers4 ,the individual who has the privilege of living on the farm1 and coming in contact with the earth and grass and trees and real things1 is the individual who1 provided he has an eye to see and an ear to hear1 is most to be envied4 ,next in importance to an abundance of fresh air is the habit of regular1 systematic exercise4 ,people often think that this kind of exercise costs a great deal of money1 that it means costly apparatus and artificial fixtures4 ,not so4 ,it requires no great outlay of time or energy for the boy on the farm to breathe deeply as he follows the plough or scatters the seeds4 ,and yet1 simple exercises of this kind are essential to the life of a race whose mortality from pulmonary diseases is alarming4 ,every boy in the machine shop knows how necessary it is to keep his machinery well oiled and in good running condition4 ,then1 too1 every such boy knows the importance of keeping every part of his machinery as clean as possible4 ,now1 your body is a machine1 but how much more delicate and intricate than any made by man6 how much more necessary to keep it in good running condition and absolutely clean in order that it may do its best work6 ,in addition to pure air and cleanliness1 ,i want to speak of the wearing of comfortable clothing as another essential to right living4 ,i am glad to see that the world is fast getting away from the old habits that used to enslave people in this matter of dressing--the habit exercised by many of wearing small shoes1 for instance1 until their feet were cramped in severe pains merely to have the world think they had small feet4 ,what does it matter to the world whether a person has small feet or large feet8 ,who ever stops to think whether great poets1 historians1 the great workers in economic and religious life1--men and women who have really accomplished something1--had large or small feet1 whether they wore fours or eights1 or wore large or small corsets or none4 ,i am glad to see that all peoples and races are getting away from that kind of thing1 and ,i want the ,tuskegee students to make up their minds to buy shoes to fit no matter what the number4 ,we consider the ,chinese ridiculous to keep their feet cruelly cramped in order that they may be small1 but many of us in somewhat less degree are guilty of the same thing4 ,the importance of temperance has been repeated over and over again from this platform2 and intemperance in eating or sleeping is not less disgusting than intemperance in drink4 ,the world's work is to be done by men and women of vigorous intellect2 but the sound mind must have its foundation in a body which is kept clean and made comfortable by proper clothing1 pure air1 regular exercise and wholesome food4 ,no workman1 however competent1 can do good work unless his tools are kept in proper repair4 ,my plea is that the young ,negro students shall acquire strong working bodies to be used as tools to serve therewith their fellows and their ,maker4 ,this is the end of all living4 ii ,some of the ,qualities ,essential to the ,most ,successful ,school ,life ,the student who would put the most into his school life must first of all be happy4 ,i do not believe it is possible for a student to accomplish very much1 certainly not the most1 while he is in school1 unless he learns to be happy in all his relations in school life4 ,if the students are unhappy there is something wrong with the institution1 or with the teachers1 or with the student body4 ,the normal state of a student in a well-ordered institution is a happy one4 ,it is impossible to get the most out of the life of any institution unless there is joy in working out the ideals of the institution4 ,the student should make himself familiar with the purposes of the school to which he seeks admission1 and having made the choice1 he should be loyal to its traditions and purposes4 ,the ,bible teaches over and over again that freedom1 without which happiness is impossible1 is self-imposed restraint1 that to be really free we must live within the law4 ,he who lives outside the law is a slave4 ,the freeman is the man who lives within the law1 whether that law be the physical or the divine4 ,all life is governed by law1 and the student must acquire freedom by obedience to law4 ,the students in any institution are divided into two classes3 the happy1 contented1 ambitious1 hopeful ones1 who have faith in the institution and respect for its traditions1 and the miserable1 discontented1 grumbling class4 ,one class live not only within the letter but in the spirit of the law1 and are consequently happy4 ,the second class are miserable1 discontented and hopeless because they try to live outside the law4 ,no student can get much out of any institution who does not enter whole-heartedly into its spirit1 its traditions and its ideals4 ,the ability to do hard methodical work is one of the prizes which every school worthy of the name offers to its students4 ,the years at school not infrequently give bent to the whole life4 ,the student who does slipshod work at school is more than likely to lack direction in his subsequent career4 ,but mental strength comes not as a bequest4 ,it is a prize that must be contended for right earnestly1 and dictionary1 cyclopaedia1 text-book and shop are tools which instructors place in the hands of students to help them win the prize4 ,the proper use of these tools must depend finally upon the individual student4 ,no one gets much out of life who does not make his education a real1 vital part of himself4 ,many people have education very much as a parrot has at his command a certain number of words or sentences4 ,the words and sentences that the parrot utters are no real part of him4 ,they are merely something tacked on to the parrot1 and foreign to his real natural make-up4 ,some people use education as they use their 8,sunday clothes10 on extra occasions only4 ,they bring their education into play when they are in the company of others1 commit a few quotations and use big words which have no working place in their vocabulary4 ,to try to make education a real part of one's self is the way to get most out of one's school life4 ,just as the food a man eats becomes a part of his blood and bone1 so should education become a vital part of him4 ,education must be digested and assimilated in order to make it significant4 ,the student who leaves undone immediate duties because of bodily laziness is leaving happiness far behind him4 ,sins of commission and sins of omission alike tend to weakness4 ,our ability to make the world better depends entirely upon our ability to use every opportunity to make ourselves better4 ,a largeness of life1 a variety of interests and breadth of view are among the prizes which a school offers to its students4 ,these qualities the ignorant man does not possess4 ,largeness of life and breadth of vision give faith in the future2 that largeness makes one person take the long view when the other is taking the short view2 that largeness lifts the educated person far above the temptation to gossip about little things1 above the temptation to get down into the mud and slime with which weaker individuals are smeared4 ,to be loyal and obedient to the legislation of an institution1 to make thrifty use of text-book and shop and farm and every part of the school equipment1 is to attain that mental strength that makes for largeness of life and breadth of view4 ,these qualities come not by observation1 but they do come by conscientious work in season and out of season4 ,they are all within the reach of the student who is willing to work for them1 and they are all essential to real happiness4 iii ,a ,word to ,prospective ,teachers about ,putting the ,most into their ,work ,the large problem of the teacher is not to impart knowledge and maintain discipline4 ,the larger problem is to bring school life and real life into closer contact4 ,with the average teacher1 as with the average student1 there is very little connection between the school and life as it is actually lived every day outside the school-room2 and as long as this is true there will be ground for reasonable and just criticism4 ,in the primary school1 the intermediary school and the high school there is often little1 if any1 connection between life as it is lived in the shop1 on the farm1 in business and in the home4 ,it cannot but prove of mutual advantage if the teacher can bring school life into actual touch with the life of the people about him4 ,the interest of the parents will be increased just in proportion as they find that the teacher is making his instruction stimulate and vitalize conditions outside the school-room4 ,it is difficult for the parent of the country child to note the results of education through the usual processes and channels of knowledge4 ,colored parents depend upon seeing the results of education in ways not true of the white parent4 ,it is important then that the colored teacher in this generation should give special attention to bringing school life into closer touch with real life4 ,any education is to my mind 8high0 which enables the individual to do the very best work for the people by whom he is surrounded4 ,any education is 8low0 that does not make for character and effective service4 ,the average teacher in the public schools is very likely to yield to the temptation of thinking that he is educating an individual when he is teaching him to reason out examples in ,arithmetic1 to prove propositions in ,geometry and to recite pages of ,history4 ,he conceives this to be the end of education4 ,herein is the sad deficiency in many teachers who are not able to use ,history1 ,arithmetic1 ,geometry as means to an end4 ,they get the idea that the student who has mastered a certain number of pages in a text-book is educated1 forgetting that text-books are at best but tools1 and in many cases ineffective tools1 for the development of man4 ,modern educators are getting more and more away from books4 ,now this will be hard for the average teacher who has worked out all the problems in ,arithmetic and proved them by the answers in the book1 but ,i believe that the best educational thought tends toward the study of real things and not mere books4 ,one of the ways of bringing the school into closer touch with society is to make school surroundings1 including the grounds and buildings1 as homelike and as attractive as possible4 ,the school-rooms are in too many cases cold and barren4 ,in schools of this sort there is little connection between the home and the school4 ,i believe that the teacher should study the home surroundings of his pupils and become more intimately acquainted with the parents4 ,when teachers are able to make their school-rooms inviting and are able to project their influence into the home life of the pupils1 there will be few absentees or truants4 ,a child cannot be expected to leave a comfortable1 attractive and convenient home to go into a dull1 inconvenient1 uncomfortable school-room1 nor can it be expected that pupils will leave comfortable chairs at home and go into school-rooms where they must sit on stools with their feet six or eight inches from the floor4 ,it is hardly necessary to say that the teacher should set the example for the student in the matter of cleanliness and neatness4 ,the teacher who would preach against grease spots1 rents in clothes and buttonless jackets must see to it that he is himself without fault in these respects4 ,when ,i go into a school and notice that the instructor has buttons off his coat1 ,i am at once convinced that he is not the right teacher4 ,i do not believe that there is much that the student can learn at that school that can be put into practice in real life4 ,i believe that the teacher should not only set an example himself1 but that he should go further than this3 he should see that every boy and girl in his school is familiar with the practical applications of soap and water1 and knows the work of the tooth-brush and the darning-needle4 ,some parents may at first resent this encroachment upon their special domain1 but persistence in an endeavor of this sort will finally cause the parents to look upon the teacher as a new force in the community4 ,the average parent cannot appreciate how many examples ,johnny has worked that day1 how many questions in ,history he has answered2 but when he says1 8,mother1 ,i cannot go back to that school until all the buttons are sewed on my coat10 the parent will at once become conscious of school influence in the home4 ,this will be the best kind of advertisement4 ,the button propaganda tends to make the teacher a power in the community4 ,a few lessons in applied ,chemistry will not be amiss4 ,take grease spots1 for example4 ,the teacher who with tact can teach his pupils to keep even threadbare clothes neatly brushed and free from grease spots is extending the school influence into the home and is adding immeasurably to the self-respect of the home4 ,in the school-houses in the city1 and in many of the larger towns and country districts1 janitors do all the work of cleaning4 ,this may be necessary in city schools1 where it is not possible for the children to do all the work of beautifying and cleaning the school building1 but when all this work is done by outsiders the children are robbed of part of their instruction and they thus lose a very important lesson in cleanliness and order which it is the duty of the teacher to give4 ,think of the time lost in the average family looking for the broom when the time comes to sweep the floor4 ,at this time all business suspends4 ,mother cries out first1 8,where is the broom80 ,the older sister cries to ,john and ,susie and ,jane1 8,where is the broom80 and that kind of thing goes on every day in the week and year4 ,it takes the average family from ten to twelve minutes every day to find the broom4 ,now1 we should teach a different lesson in our schools4 ,we can teach in the first place that there are two ways for the broom to be put up1 a proper and an improper way4 ,we can teach the children that there is a place for the dust-pan and the dust-cloth and the match-box4 ,the match-box is another thing that suspends business4 ,every night when the matches are wanted1 everything goes helter-skelter4 ,this is a larger problem than the broom1 there being absolutely no light on the subject4 ,the children should be taught that there must be a definite place for the broom and for the match-box1 and it is surprising how quickly these lessons will be taken from the school-room into the home4 ,even the listless parents will be roused to interest by such practical teaching4 ,the child who goes to school in a room that is clean and attractive will not long be content to live in a home that is dirty and disorderly4 ,i was recently in a school-room in ,south ,carolina4 ,the teacher had a reputation for being a well-fitted instructor1 and ,i expected much of him4 ,he was teaching the children by the latest methods4 ,the children sang well1 they recited their lessons well1 but the fact that one third of the plastering was missing made the greatest impression on me4 ,i could not detect the slightest attempt on the part of the teacher or students to see that the plastering was restored4 ,i should have suspended school a day or two until the plastering could be replaced1 rather than teach day after day by silent approval a lesson of disorder4 ,if the teacher is careless1 the pupils will accept his standards and go through life in an indifferent1 slipshod manner4 ,if from the first day they enter school they are surrounded with object lessons of order and cleanliness1 more will have been done to educate them in a large and helpful way than if they had centred their interest in books alone4 ,order and beauty are sacrificed in many of our schools because one third or one fourth of the window-glass is out4 ,sometimes ,i have seen obsolete hats and discarded dresses doing duty in the absence of window-glass or window-panes knocked out in order that the stovepipe might be run through the broken place4 ,the child never outlives the impression made by such a sight4 ,the parents will join their children in helping to patch broken plastering if the teacher will take the lead4 ,when the plastering is mended1 a few pictures should be placed on the walls1 and in this work the parents' coperation can be depended upon4 ,teachers must put not less conscience but more thought into the work for the children to whose lives they are giving direction4 ,by putting into their work more of their better selves1 more of their personality1 teachers will add not only to their own happiness and usefulness1 but will be doing real work toward hastening the coming of that kingdom for which they daily pray4 iv ,industrial ,efficiency an ,aid to ,the ,higher ,life ,it was ,emerson who said that 8,one generation clears the forests1 the next builds the palaces40 ,each generation is very anxious to engage in the building of the palaces1 an ambition which is altogether laudable1 but the forests must first be cleared or there will be no palaces4 ,and so it falls to the lot of every successful individual of every race and nation to engage at some time or period in their existence in dealing in a large degree with the industrial or material affairs of life4 ,the forms of industry that occupy the majority of people in a civilized country may be classed under one of the following heads3 first and perhaps most largely1 the production of raw material in one form or another2 the second step is the manufacturing of these materials2 third1 the problem of transportation and getting these products on the markets of the world1 and having them properly distributed and economically and wisely consumed4 ,the production of cotton in the ,south presents a familiar example of all these processes4 ,the growing of cotton is an industry largely in the hands of my race2 in the second step1 the manufacturing of cotton1 the colored people have as yet little part2 in putting these materials on the market through the medium of steamboats1 steam-cars1 and their distribution through wholesale and retail establishments1 colored people have diminishing interests4 ,the lesson for all young people to learn in this busy industrial age is to deal with materials1 whether at first hand in getting something out of the soil1 or as constructing or distributing agents1 so as to increase the value of the material they handle and to make themselves more useful as individuals4 ,the main source of all productiveness is in the soil1 and the work of getting out of the soil all that can be gotten out of it has1 in recent years1 made agriculture an intellectual pursuit4 ,it is very important to note the progress of the world during the last few years1 when people have learned to put more into life by putting brains and skill and confidence into all industrial operations4 ,a few years ago the man who was going to be a farmer made almost no preparation for his work4 ,skill and intelligence were not considered necessary1 but to-day in every civilized country there are institutions that have for their sole purpose the teaching of methods of getting everything possible out of the soil4 ,a few years ago the mining of coal1 copper1 silver and gold was left to the most unintelligent1 ignorant and unskilled people2 there was little thought or skill put into preparation for this kind of work4 ,to-day mining schools have been established in all important mining districts1 and this industry has been so dignified that intelligent and skilful men delight to enter it4 ,the same thing is true of forestry4 ,within the last few months a chair of ,forestry has been established at ,cornell ,university1 where young men can learn all about the selection and cultivation of trees4 ,the ,department of ,agriculture at ,washington is spending over two million dollars yearly in showing people how to take care of the forests4 ,the world is making all the material products serve not as masters but as servants1 and servants in the sense that they are making people put more thought1 more effort1 more skill into life1 and enabling them thus to get more abundant returns wherewith to enlarge and ennoble their lives4 ,there are opportunities about us on every hand4 ,the ,southern farm offers great opportunities to every young man who will use his talents4 ,the idea that farming means ploughing with one mule or digging the ground with a spade is fast disappearing1 for this industry is developing into a high and dignified calling4 ,young women of maturer races than ours are making large economic successes in the raising of chickens1 in fruit growing1 in raising small berries2 and young colored women should begin to get some of the benefits of these industries4 ,but the chance for material success in connection with industrial life is relatively of less importance than is the chance for the individual to get development through the mastering of difficulties in the management of industrial operations4 ,the mere mastering of these difficulties has made many of the ,captains of ,industry of this country4 ,poverty discourages many a youth who starts out in the busy industrial world1 but the fact that others have conquered poverty is an earnest that others1 for centuries to come1 will get courage and strength out of adverse struggle4 ,the colored man starts out1 it is true1 with an additional handicap1 but here is the chance for ,negro youth to learn to turn disadvantages to advantages4 ,a colored man born in poverty and an ex-slave owns to-day one of the largest tailoring establishments in one of the most prominent streets in the city of ,boston4 ,this man had learned the sweet uses of adversity and knew how to lay hold of disadvantages4 ,his establishment is patronized by people who buy from him not in spite of the fact that he is a ,negro1 but because he is a ,negro4 ,the world needs men1 be they white or black1 who can rise on successive failures to useful citizenship4 ,no person can enter industrial life without for a time feeling some days of almost complete failure1 but mistakes and weariness beget confidence and experience4 ,all industrial operations and material progress should be used not as ends but as means of making life more comfortable1 more useful and more beautiful4 ,the intelligent farmer as he plants and works and harvests the cotton must remember that the production of cotton is not the end of his effort4 ,every bale of cotton can be turned into books1 into opportunities for travel and study4 ,the man who grows corn must remember that the growing of corn is not the end of life1 but that the corn can be turned into refinements and beauties of a civilized life and a ,christian home4 ,no one can doubt that the people who have built the railroads and constructed the great steamships that bind country to country have added to the wealth and happiness of the world4 ,finally1 it must be remembered that the mastering of difficulties should bring poise1 purpose and vision4 ,i want every ,tuskegee student as he finds his place in the surging industrial life about him to give heed to the things which are 8honest and just and pure and of good report10 for these things make for character1 which is the only thing worth fighting for1 either in this life or the next4 v ,making ,religion ,a ,vital ,part of ,living ,educated men and women1 especially those who are in college or other institutions of learning1 very often get the idea that religion is fit only for the common people and beneath the interest and sympathy of the educated man4 ,in too many cases they are disposed to think that religion is for the weak1 and that to express doubts concerning religion and the future life is an indication of a vigorous1 independent mind4 ,no young man or woman can make a greater error than this4 ,some years ago1 when ,i was in ,new ,york ,city1 ,i went down to ,wall ,street to consult a friend as to methods of arranging for a large meeting4 ,i wanted in this meeting to get interest centred in the work we are trying to do at ,tuskegee4 ,my friend said3 8,if you can secure the coperation of four men in ,new ,york ,city1 the success of your meeting will be assured40 ,i went to the four men whose names had been given me and secured their interest and coperation4 ,some weeks later there was a large meeting held in ,new ,york in the interest of the ,young ,men's ,christian ,association movement4 ,in looking over the list of persons who were sponsors for this meeting ,i found the names of the four men whom my ,wall ,street friend had mentioned4 ,he gave me these names1 however1 with no thought that they were leaders in the religious activity of ,new ,york ,city4 ,he named them chiefly because he knew their standing in the commercial and business life of the city was secure1 and that anything they said would attract the attention of the public and would secure the confidence of the people whose interest and aid we were seeking4 ,and so it appears that the four men who at that time represented the commercial and business interest of ,new ,york were men who were closely identified with the religious life of the city1 and were active in ,sunday-school and church work1 and connected with many other agencies which had to do with the uplifting of the masses4 ,my observation has taught me that the people who stand for the most in the educational and commercial world and in the uplifting of the people are in some real way connected with the religious life of the people among whom they reside4 ,this being true we ought to make the most of our religious life and to avail ourselves of certain outward helps1 helps which are not ends but aids to higher spiritual living4 ,first the habit of regular attendance at some religious service should be cultivated4 ,this is one of the outward helps toward inward grace4 ,nothing is ever lost by this habit of systematic devotion4 ,but one says1 8,what good is accomplished by attending church80 ,another says1 8,i stay away from religious service and ,i am just as good as those who go40 ,to put the question another way1 ,was any one ever injured by regular attendance upon religious services8 ,the man who allows himself to grow careless about sacred things yields to a temptation which is sure to drag him down4 ,as you value your spiritual life1 see to it that you do not lose the spirit of reverence for the ,most ,high as revealed in your own life and experience1 reverence for the ,most ,high as revealed in the men and women about you1 in the opening flower1 the setting sun1 and the song of the bird4 ,do not mistake denominationalism for reverence and religion4 ,religion is life1 denominationalism is an aid to life4 ,systematic reading and prayerful study of the ,bible is the second outward help which ,i would commend to those whom ,i wish to see make the most of their spiritual life4 ,many people regard the ,bible as a wonderful piece of literature only4 ,the reading of the ,bible as literature only brings its reward in that it throws new light on secular history and gives acquaintance with men and women and ideals which have been the inspiration of the noblest things that have ever been spoken or written4 ,nowhere in all literature can be found a finer bit of oratory than ,st4 ,paul's defence before ,king ,agrippa4 ,but praiseworthy as this kind of study is1 ,i do not believe it is sufficient4 ,the ,bible should be read as a daily guide to right living and as a daily incentive to positive ,christian service4 ,i think that no man who lives a merely negative religious life can ever know real spiritual joy4 ,there are many people who pride themselves on the things they do not do4 ,the negative ,christian always suggests a lamp-post to me4 ,the negative ,christian says he is going to heaven because he does not lie4 ,neither does the lamp-post4 ,the negative ,christian does not steal4 ,neither does the lamp-post steal4 ,he does not cheat1 he does nothing of which he is ashamed3 he is therefore blameless4 ,the lamp-post has never done any one of these things4 ,i do not want the ,tuskegee students to be lamp-posts in their religious life1 but ,i want them to turn their beliefs into energy that shall work into every detail of their lives4 ,not less repulsive to me than the negative ,christian is the one who is always using his religion as a means of escape from something1 from hell fire or brimstone or some less remote punishment4 ,this class of ,christians use religion as people use the conjurer's bag or a disinfectant to ward off evil4 ,they are not drawn to any vital thing in religion2 they simply use it as a cloak to shield them from harm4 ,to live the real religious life is in some measure to share the character of ,god4 ,the word 8atonement10 which occurs in the ,bible again and again1 means literally at-one-ment4 ,to be at one with ,god is to be like ,god4 ,our real religious striving1 then1 should be to become one with ,god1 sharing with ,him in our poor human way ,his qualities and attributes4 ,to do this1 we must get the inner life1 the heart right1 and we shall then become strong where we have been weak1 wise where we have been foolish4 ,we are often criticised as a race because people say that our religion is not real4 ,they say that our religion is superficial1 that in spite of our attendance at religious services and protestations of faith we are guilty of petty pilfering1 stealing1 lying and of walking crookedly in many directions4 ,whenever this criticism is true it means that we have not learned what the religious life really means4 ,we must learn to incorporate ,god's laws into our thoughts and words and acts4 ,frequent reference is made in the ,bible to the freedom that comes from being a ,christian4 ,a man is free just in proportion as he learns to live within ,god's laws1 and he makes grievous mistakes and serious blunders the minute he departs from these laws4 ,as a race we are inclined1 ,i fear1 to make too much of the day of judgment4 ,we have the idea that in some far-off period there is going to be a great and final day of judgment1 when every individual will be called up1 and all his bad deeds will be read out before him and all his good deeds made known4 ,i believe that every day is a day of judgment1 that we reap our rewards daily1 and that whenever we sin we are punished by mental and physical anxiety and by a weakened character that separates us from ,god4 ,every day is1 ,i take it1 a day of judgment1 and as we learn ,god's laws and grow into ,his likeness we shall find our reward in this world in a life of usefulness and honor4 ,to do this is to have found the kingdom of ,god1 which is the kingdom of character and righteousness and peace4 vi ,on ,making ,our ,race ,life ,count in the ,life of the ,nation ,in the ,bible one finds over and over again the words 8a peculiar people40 ,reference is made to the ,jews as 8a peculiar people10--a people differing in thought and temperament and mode of life from others by whom they were surrounded4 ,now the race to which ,americans of ,african lineage belong is often described as 8a peculiar people10 having had1 as we know1 a peculiar history4 ,they differ in color and in appearance1 and in a very large degree their temperament and thought differ from that of the people about them4 ,now the ,jews because they were different from the peoples by whom they were surrounded1 because of their peculiar religious bent1 were able to give to the world the doctrine of the unity and ,fatherhood of ,god1 and ,christianity1 the finest flower of ,jewry4 ,it is then1 ,i think1 not too much to hope that the very qualities which make the ,negro different from the peoples by whom he is surrounded will enable him1 in the fulness of time1 to make a peculiar contribution to the nation of which he forms a part4 ,what that contribution is to be no man can now tell1 but we must keep in mind that the race is made of individuals and 8every man ,god made ,is different1 has some deed to do1 ,some work to work4 ,be undismayed4 ,though thine be humble1 do it1 too40 ,as with an individual1 so with a race4 ,when you and ,i and all the other individuals that go to make up our race shall have learned to do well our own peculiar work1 we shall be able to determine the bent of the race4 ,it must fall upon you and me1 who have had opportunity to work out in some measure our own individual problems1 to give direction to the race4 ,it is for us1 therefore1 to bring to the enrichment of our lives1 as individuals1 every quality which we are capable of cultivating4 ,there is in the ,new ,testament a passage which ,i like to refer to and to think of2 it reads something like this3 8,he that overcometh shall be clothed in white raiment40 ,the expression 8,he that overcometh0 occurs several times in the ,new ,testament4 ,i am anxious that the ,tuskegee students shall get the idea firmly fixed in their minds that there are definite rewards coming to the individual or to the race that overcomes obstacles and succeeds in spite of seemingly insurmountable difficulties4 ,the palms of victory are not for the race that merely complains and frets and rails4 ,i do not mean to say that there is not a place for race loyalty and enthusiasm4 ,there is a proper and vital place for protests against the wrongs that are inflicted without cause or reason4 ,every race1 like every individual1 should be swift to protest against injustice and wrongs1 but no race must be content with mere protests4 ,every race must show to the world by tangible1 visible1 indisputable evidence that it can do more than merely call attention to the wrongs inflicted upon it4 ,the reward of life is for those who choose the good where evil calls out on every hand4 ,that reward is moral character4 ,the more temptations resisted--the more difficult the struggle--the more robust the character4 ,the wholly innocent person is much less praiseworthy than is he who has faced temptation and has come out of it unscarred4 ,the virtues of foresight and thrift and frugality1 brought bravely to the front1 will bring large material possessions which if properly used will refine and enrich life4 ,i am constrained to refer once more to that 8peculiar people10 the ,jews1--a race that has been handicapped in very much the same way as the colored people4 ,their opportunities have been limited in many directions4 ,in ,russia to-day they are in many cases debarred from schools and from entrance into the professions4 ,and1 notwithstanding the barriers in this country1 one of the most noted banking firms in the ,united ,states is composed of ,jews4 ,members of a despised race1 they made up their minds that in spite of difficulties they would not stop to complain1 but would compel recognition by making a real contribution to the country of which they formed a part4 ,the ,japanese race is a convincing example of the respect which the world gives to a race that can put brains and commercial activity into the development of the resources of a country4 ,what material difficulties the thrifty ,hollanders have had to overcome in the development of their country6 ,but the battle against water and wind has developed not only a country1 but an energetic1 thrifty people4 ,the ,netherlands have literally been made by these sturdy ,hollanders1 who because they overcame are looked upon as a great and happy people4 ,there is1 then1 opportunity for the colored people to enrich the material life of their adopted country by doing what their hands find to do1 minor duties though they be1 so well that nobody else of any race can do them better4 ,this is the aim that the ,tuskegee student should keep steadily before him4 ,if he remembers that all service1 however lowly1 is true service1 an important step will have been taken in the solution of what we term 8the race problem40 ,for it must be remembered that no individual of any race can contribute to the solution of any general problem until he has first worked out his own peculiar problem4 ,some months ago ,i met a former schoolmate whom ,i had not seen for a number of years4 ,i was naturally interested to hear about his progress1 and began to question him4 ,i asked him where he lived1 and he said he had no abiding-place1 in fact he had lived in a half dozen places since we parted4 ,in answer to other questions1 ,i found that he had no special trade1 no special business1 no bank account4 ,i asked then what he had been doing in the intervening years1 and he answered he had been travelling about over the country1 doing his best to solve the race problem4 ,that man should rather have been at work at the solution of his own individual problem4 ,an individual circumstanced as he was could not solve anybody's problem4 ,it is important to have one's own dooryard clean before calling attention to the imperfection in the neighbor's yard4 ,each ,negro can put much into the life of his race by making his own individual life present a model in purity and patience1 in industry and courage1 in showing the world how to get strength out of difficulties4 ,the late ,president ,garfield once said that no person ever drowned1 no matter how many times he was thrown overboard1 who was worth saving1 and that remark1 with a few modifications1 might be applied to a race4 ,no race is ever lost that is worth saving1 and no race need be lost that wants to save itself4 ,the world is full of little people who through lack of wisdom and patience and perseverance merely add to the world's burdens4 ,the despised ,negro has the chance to show to the world that charity which suffereth long and is kind and which never faileth4 ,in the face of discouragements and difficulties the ,negro must ever remember that nobody can degrade him4 ,nobody can degrade a big race or a big man4 ,no one can degrade a single member of any race4 ,the individual himself is the only one who can inflict that punishment4 ,frederick ,douglass was on one occasion compelled to ride for several hours in a portion of a freight car4 ,a friend went into the freight car to console him and said to him that he hated to see a man of his intelligence in so humiliating a position4 8,i am ashamed that they have thus degraded you40 ,but ,douglass1 straightening himself up in his seat1 looked the friend in the face and said1 8,they cannot degrade ,frederick ,douglass40 ,and so they cannot degrade a single individual who does not want to be degraded4 ,injustice cannot work harm upon the oppressed without injuring the oppressor4 ,the ,negro people must live the precepts taught by the ,christ4 ,they must go on multiplying1 day by day1 deeds of worthiness1 piling them up mountain high4 ,and just as you and ,i1 as individuals1 are called upon to serve the race of which we are a part1 so let us as a race recognize the fact that we are a part of a great nation which we are bound to serve4 ,the ,end ,transcriber's ,notes ,simple typographical errors were corrected4 ,punctuation1 hyphenation1 and spelling were made consistent when a predominant preference was found in the original book2 otherwise they were not changed4 ,the ,frontispiece illustration is a photograph of ,booker ,t4 ,washington4 ,the illustration on the ,title page is decorative4