Frederick Douglass, the Orator - Monroe County Library System

Central Library of Rochester and Monroe County · Historic Monographs Collection
LIFE OF FREDERICK DOUGLASS. 175
"Though a man of this class may not be
worshiped as a hero, there is a genuine heroism
in the struggle he has made, and sublimity and
glory in the triumph. Every such example of
success is a help to the race. It is an assertion
of the latent powers of simple, unaided manhood,
and affords encouragement to the least favored
among men. It robs labor of pain. It dispels
gloom from the brow of destitution, and makes
the roughest and flintiest hardships in the stern
battle of life seem trifles light as air."
After showing in what way self-made men
attain success, he takes up certain criticisms to
which men of this class are exposed. The passage
here introduced from the same lecture, while
it shows the high value which Mr. Douglass
places upon education and institutions of learning,
furnishes an illustration of the broad and liberal
views entertained by him upon all great questions.
This is the passage to which we refer:—
" By these remarks, however, I intend no
disparagement of educated men, or of educational
institutions. In all my admiration of selfmade
men, I am far from considering them the
best-made men.
" The roundness, fullness, and symmetry which
we find in the scholar are often missing in the
self-made man. He is strong, but apt to be