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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.

Booker T. Washington#21

IntegrityProgressAccountabilityExperienceProblem solving

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

  • policy making
  • activism
  • consulting

Putting it to work

  • engage in practical work
  • verify results over theories

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.

More from Booker T. Washington

  1. There is another class of coloured people who make a business of keeping the troubles, the wrongs, and the hardships of the Negro race before the public. Havin…

    Permalink to quote #20
  2. Character is power.

    Permalink to quote #22
  3. My whole life has largely been one of surprises. I believe that any man's life will be filled with constant, unexpected encouragements of this kind if he makes…

    Permalink to quote #19

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