In my contact with people I find that, as a rule, it is only the little, narrow people who live for themselves, who never read good books, who do not travel, who never open up their souls in a way to permit them to come into contact with other souls—with the great outside world.
From his autobiography, Washington reflects on the qualities of individuals who lack broad perspective and empathy.
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More from Booker T. Washington
I was supremely happy in the opportunity of being able to assist somebody else.
Even the most ignorant members of my race on the remote plantations felt in their hearts, with a certainty that admitted of no doubt, that the freedom of the slaves would be the one great result of the war, if the Northern armies conquered.
I cannot remember having slept in a bed until after our family was declared free by the Emancipation Proclamation.
When persons ask me in these days how, in the midst of what sometimes seem hopelessly discouraging conditions, I can have such faith in the future of my race in this country, I remind them of the wilderness through which and out of which…