“I think I have learned that…” — Booker T. Washington · ToDoMatriX

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Leadership and responsibility

I think I have learned that the best way to lift one's self up is to help someone else.

— Booker T. Washington (1856–1915), The Story of My Life and Work, vol. I (1900), ch. XV: Cuban Education and the Chicago Peace Jubilee Address

Leadership and responsibility

What it means

Helping others is one of the surest ways to lift ourselves. Service and self-improvement turn out to be connected.

About the author

Booker T. Washington — American educator, author, orator and adviser (1856–1915).

Source and verification

Source: The Story of My Life and Work, vol. I (1900), ch. XV: Cuban Education and the Chicago Peace Jubilee Address
Reference: Booker T. Washington on Wikiquote
Checked: Wording and source taken from the sourced section of the author’s Wikiquote page, which cites the work given here (accessed 2026-10-11).
Copyright: Public domain: the author died in 1915.

The explanation above is ToDoMatriX’s own reading of the quote, not the author’s words.

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