zed by him than by any other American educator.
Just as Matthew Arnold insisted that religion was a matter of conduct
rather than forms and dogmas so Booker Washington held that education
is a matter of character and not forms. He concluded one of his Sunday
night talks to his students with these words: "I want every Tuskegee
student as he finds his place in the surging industrial life about him
to give heed to the things which are 'honest and just and pure and of
good report,' for these things make for character, which is the only
thing worth fighting for...." In another of these talks he said: "A
student should not be satisfied with himself until he has grown to the
point where, when simply sweeping a room, he can go into the corners
and crevices and remove the hidden trash which, although it should be
left, would not be seen. It is not very hard to find people who will
thoroughly clean a room which is going to be occupied, or wash a dish
which is to be handled by strangers; but it is hard to find a person
who will do a thing right when the eyes of the world are not likely to
look upon what has been done. The cleaning of rooms and the washing of
dishes have much to do with forming characters."[3]

[Footnote 3: "Sowing and Reaping," by Booker T. Washington. L.C. Page
& Co., Boston, Publishers.]

This recalls Booker Washington's own experience when as a ragged and
penniless youth he applied for admission to Hampton and was given a
room to sweep by way of an entrance examination. Indeed, one of Booker
Washington's greatest sources of strength as a teacher lay in the fact
that his own life not only illustrated the truth of his assertions,
but illustrated it in a striking and dramatic manner. His life was, in
fact, an epitome of the hardships, struggles, and triumphs of the
successful members of his race from the days of slavery to the present
time. A great believer in the power of example he lived a life which
gave him that power in its highest degree. Because of his inherent
modesty and good taste he never referred to himself or his
achievements as examples to be emulated, and this merely further
enhanced their power.

In concluding another Sunday night talk he said: "As a race we are
inclined, I fear, to make too much of the day of judgment. We have the
idea that in some far-off period there is going to be a great and
final day of judgment, when every individual will be called up, and
all his bad deeds will be read o