George Washington Carver Talks About the Value of Putting Work Before Ego in a Lost 1939 Interview

“You can’t get very far in life if you don’t get away from Self”

In a remarkable episode of the PBS interview series Blank on Blank that’s beautifully animated by Blend, legendary scientist, botanist and inventor George Washington Carver eloquently opened upabout how he viewed his work in the laboratory as his search for the truth and with that, the great importance of putting work before one’s ego in a very rare lost interview from 1939.

So I simply use the chemical laboratory to find certain things that I’m looking for.
A laboratory is simply a place where we tear things to pieces. Sometimes we can get them together again if we want to put them together, and sometimes we can’t. But nevertheless, we can pull things to pieces and get the truth that we are searching for. …Sometimes it is wise not to look for too much appreciation. The main thing is to be sure you’re right, and go ahead, regardless of whether people appreciate it

Lori Dorn
Lori Dorn

Lori is a Laughing Squid Contributing Editor based in New York City who has been writing blog posts for over a decade. She also enjoys making jewelry, playing guitar, taking photos and mixing craft cocktails.