Up from Slavery: An AutobiographyWashington, Booker T.
History
Up from Slavery: An Autobiography
Washington, Booker T.
African Americans -- Biography; Educators -- United States -- Biography; Tuskegee Institute; Washington, Booker T., 1856-1915
In order that I may keep in constant touch with the life of the
institution, I have a system of reports so arranged that a record of
the school’s work reaches me every day of the year, no matter in what
part of the country I am. I know by these reports even what students
are excused from school, and why they are excused—whether for reasons
of ill health or otherwise. Through the medium of these reports I know
each day what the income of the school in money is; I know how many
gallons of milk and how many pounds of butter come from the dairy; what
the bill of fare for the teachers and students is; whether a certain
kind of meat was boiled or baked, and whether certain vegetables served
in the dining room were bought from a store or procured from our own
farm. Human nature I find to be very much the same the world over, and
it is sometimes not hard to yield to the temptation to go to a barrel
of rice that has come from the store—with the grain all prepared to go
in the pot—rather than to take the time and trouble to go to the field
and dig and wash one’s own sweet potatoes, which might be prepared in a
manner to take the place of the rice.
I am often asked how, in the midst of so much work, a large part of
which is for the public, I can find time for any rest or recreation,
and what kind of recreation or sports I am fond of. This is rather a
difficult question to answer. I have a strong feeling that every
individual owes it to himself, and to the cause which he is serving, to
keep a vigorous, healthy body, with the nerves steady and strong,
prepared for great efforts and prepared for disappointments and trying
positions. As far as I can, I make it a rule to plan for each day’s
work—not merely to go through with the same routine of daily duties,
but to get rid of the routine work as early in the day as possible, and
then to enter upon some new or advance work. I make it a rule to clear
my desk every day, before leaving my office, of all correspondence and
memoranda, so that on the morrow I can begin a _new_ day of work. I
make it a rule never to let my work drive me, but to so master it, and
keep it in such complete control, and to keep so far ahead of it, that
I will be the master instead of the servant. There is a physical and
mental and spiritual enjoyment that comes from a consciousness of being
the absolute master of one’s work, in all its details, that is very
satisfactory and inspiring. My experience teaches me that, if one
learns to follow this plan, he gets a freshness of body and vigour of
mind out of work that goes a long way toward keeping him strong and
healthy. I believe that when one can grow to the point where he loves
his work, this gives him a kind of strength that is most valuable.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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