I am afraid that there is a certain class of race-problem solvers who don't want the patient to get well, because as long as the disease holds out they have not only an easy means of making a living, but also an easy medium through which to make themselves prominent before the public. My experience is that people who call themselves 'The Intellectuals' understand theories, but they do not understand things. I have long been convinced that, if these men could have gone into the South and taken up and become interested in some practical work which would have brought them in touch with people and things, the whole world would have looked very different to them. Bad as conditions might have seemed at first, when they saw that actual progress was being made, they would have taken a more hopeful view of the situation.
About this quote
- What does it mean?
- Some problem solvers benefit from keeping issues unresolved rather than fixing them. Practical experience offers deeper understanding than theory alone.
- In plain terms
- Some people profit from problems instead of solving them. Real work teaches more than theory.
- What can you take from it?
- Solve problems practically instead of profiting from them.
Where it applies
Putting it to work
Questions to consider
- Are you solving problems or profiting from them?
- How do you balance theory and practice?
Another view
Theoretical work also has value; experience is not the only path to understanding.
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