Source identified1
“Experience has taught me, in fact, that no man should be pitied because, every day in his life, he faces a hard, stubborn problem, but rather that it is the man who has no problem to solve, no hardships to face, who is to be pitied.”
A demanding problem can give effort direction and exercise ability; Washington therefore treats a life without challenge as potentially more limiting than one requiring sustained problem-solving.
Source note: My Larger Education, Chapter I, “Learning from Men and Things”; Project Gutenberg #73923. The sentence continues Washington’s argument that confronting difficult practical problems can develop strength and clarity rather than merely consume effort.
Source identified2
“I came to see that, along with his disadvantages, the Negro in America had some advantages, and I made up my mind that opportunities that had been denied him from without could be more than made up by greater concentration and power within.”
Washington argues for concentrating on agency that remains available under unequal conditions, without pretending those external disadvantages are unreal or morally acceptable.
Source note: My Larger Education, Chapter I, “Learning from Men and Things”; Project Gutenberg #73923. Washington reflects on how he came to emphasize internal discipline and concentrated effort while explicitly acknowledging externally imposed disadvantage.
Source identified3
“The majority of successful men are persons who have had difficulties to overcome, problems to master; and, in overcoming those difficulties and mastering those problems, they have gained strength of mind and a clearness of vision that few persons who have lived a life of ease have been able to attain.”
Difficulty can train judgment when it has to be actively mastered; the claimed benefit comes from the capacities developed while solving problems, not from hardship being desirable in itself.
Source note: My Larger Education, Chapter I, “Learning from Men and Things”; Project Gutenberg #73923. Washington connects repeated problem-solving with strength of mind and clearer judgment, contrasting developed capacity with an untested life of ease.