If they have travelled far, they have made the road on which they travelled. If they have ascended high, they have built their own ladder.
In plain words
People who get far have mostly built the road they travelled on.
Where these words come from
- 95% sureThese words were traced back to where they first appeared. That source is listed below.
- "Self-Made Men" speech, delivered repeatedly 1859-1893
- "Self-Made Men" (speech)
- 1859-1893 · one of Douglass's most-repeated post-Civil-War lecture-circuit speeches
More from Frederick Douglass
See allI would unite with anybody to do right; and with nobody to do wrong.
Frederick DouglassI set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.Frederick DouglassIf there is no struggle, there is no progress.Frederick DouglassIt is not luck, nor is it great mental endowments, but it is well directed, honest toil.Frederick Douglass
Frederick DouglassI set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.Frederick DouglassIf there is no struggle, there is no progress.Frederick DouglassIt is not luck, nor is it great mental endowments, but it is well directed, honest toil.Frederick DouglassMore on individuality
To live is the rarest thing in the world. Most people exist, that is all.
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.
J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.
Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.
Judy Garland
Oscar WildeNot all who wander are lost.J.R.R. Tolkien'Know thyself' was written over the portal of the antique world. Over the portal of the new world, 'Be thyself' shall be written.Oscar WildeWe will walk on our own feet; we will work with our own hands; we will speak our own minds.Ralph Waldo EmersonThe imitator dooms himself to hopeless mediocrity.Ralph Waldo EmersonAlways be a first-rate version of yourself, instead of a second-rate version of somebody else.Judy Garland