Quote Origin: Success Is To Be Measured Not So Much By the Position That One Has Reached in Life As By the Obstacles Which One Has Overcome

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Booker T. Washington? Apocryphal?

labyrinth

Question for Quote Investigator: The true measure of success in life is not determined solely by the position one attains. Instead, the measure must consider the obstacles one has overcome. The prominent educator and author Booker T. Washington said something like this. Would you please help me to find a citation?

Reply from Quote Investigator: Booker T. Washington published a series of autobiographical articles in the New York periodical “The Outlook”. The November 10, 1900 piece included the following. Boldface added to excerpts by QI:1

I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.

Below are additional selected citations in chronological order.

The positive response to the articles in “The Outlook” inspired Washington to publish a full autobiography which appeared in 1901. The book reprinted the passage above.2

In 1915 “Life Notes of Charles B. Murray: Journalist and Statistician” included a passage about a dedication ceremony for a tablet honoring abolitionist Harriet Tubman. Murray states that Booker T. Washington delivered an address which included the following:3

“I have learned that success is not to be measured so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed. How often I have wanted to say to white students that they lift themselves up in proportion as they help to lift others. I have found that the happiest people are those who do the most for others. No man whose vision is bounded by color can come into contact with what is highest and best in this world.”

The 1965 book “Remarks of Famous People” compiled by Jacob M. Braude contained the quotation and credited Washington.4

The helpful website “Dr. Mardy’s Dictionary of Metaphorical Quotations” listed the quotation while citing Washington’s 1901 autobiography.5

In conclusion, Booker T. Washington deserves credit for the words he wrote in 1900 in “The Outlook”. The passage appeared again in his autobiography in 1901.

Image Notes: Illustration of a labyrinth from PIRO4D at Pixabay. Image has been resized.

Update History: On March 18, 2025 the format of the bibliographical notes was updated.

  1. 1900 November 10, The Outlook, Volume 66, Number 11, Up from Slavery: An Autobiography by Booker T. Washington, Start Page 649, Quote Page 654, The Outlook Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  2. 1901, Up from Slavery: An Autobiography by Booker T. Washington, Chapter 2: Boyhood Days, Quote Page 39, Doubleday, Page & Company, New York. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  3. 1915, Life Notes of Charles B. Murray: Journalist and Statistician by Charles B. Murray, Chapter: Concerning My Father—Orson S, Murray, Quote Page 35, Published by Request, Cincinnati Ohio. (Google Books Full View) link ↩︎
  4. 1965, Remarks of Famous People by Jacob M. Braude, Series: Complete Speaker’s and Toastmaster’s Library, Topic: Obstacles, Quote Page 69, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey. (Verified with scans) ↩︎
  5. Website: Dr. Mardy’s Dictionary of Metaphorical Quotations, Topic: Success, Quotation author: Booker T. Washington, Website description: Compilation of quotations organized by subject. (Accessed drmardy.com on January 31,2022) link ↩︎