Nature and Its Teachings

George Washington Carver

George Washington Carver (12 July 1864 – 5 January 1943) was an African-American teacher, scientist, botanist and agricultural researcher who worked in his native Southern United States. He taught at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama.

“The scientific discoveries and experiments of Dr. Carver have done more to alleviate the one-crop agricultural system in the South than any other thing that has been done in the history of the United States.”
–Senator Harry S. Truman, on February 5, 1943, as quoted in George Washington Carver: Scientist and Educator, by Dennis Abrams, Gene Adair, p. 4.

Dr. Carver only patented three of his inventions. In his words, “It is not the style of clothes one wears, neither the kind of automobile one drives, nor the amount of money one has in the bank that counts. These mean nothing. It is simply service that measures success.” Dr. Carver corresponded with Mahatma Gandhi about nutrition and sustainable farming practices in developing nations such as India.

Franklin D. Roosevelt on the versatility of Dr. Carter’s genius

“The versatility of his genius and his achievements in diverse branches of the arts and sciences were truly amazing.  All mankind is the beneficiary of his discoveries in the field of agricultural chemistry. The things which he achieved in the face of early handicaps will for all time afford an inspiration of youth everywhere. I count it a great privilege to have met Dr. Carver and to have talked with him at Tuskegee on the occasion of my visit to the institute, which was the scene of his long and distinguished labors.”

–Franklin D. Roosevelt, after Carver’s death on January 5, 1943.

George Washington Carver responded to Booker T. Washington’s invitation to teach at the Tuskegee Institute. He is buried at Tuskegee next to Booker T. Washington. His epitaph reads: “He could have added fortune to fame, but caring for neither, he found happiness and honor in being helpful to the world.”

Additional George Washington Carver Quotes

“How do I talk to the flower?
Through it I walk to the Infinite.
And what is the infinite?
It is that silent, small force.
It isn’t the outer physical contact. No, it isn’t that.
The infinite is not confirmed in the visible world.
It is not in the earthquake, the wind or the fire.
It is that still small voice that calls up the fairies.
Yet when you look out upon God’s beautiful world―there it is.
When you look onto the heart of a rose there you experience it―but you can’t explain it.”

―Carver, George Washington, and Gary R. Kremer. George Washington Carver in His Own Words. University of Missouri Press, 2017.

“There are certain things, often very little things, like the peanut, the little piece of clay, the little flower that cause you to look within―and then you see the soul of things.”

―Carver, George Washington, and Gary R. Kremer. George Washington Carver in His Own Words. University of Missouri Press, 2017.

“The secret of my success? It is simple. It is found in the Bible, ‘In all thy ways acknowledge Him and He shall direct thy paths.’” (Proverbs 3:6)”

―Carver, George Washington, and Gary R. Kremer. George Washington Carver in His Own Words. University of Missouri Press, 2017.

“God is going to reveal to us things He never revealed before if we put our hands in His. No books ever go into my laboratory. The thing I am to do and the way of doing it are revealed to me. I never have to grope for methods. The method is revealed to me the moment I am inspired to create something new. Without God to draw aside the curtain I would be helpless.”

―Carver, George Washington, and Gary R. Kremer. George Washington Carver in His Own Words. University of Missouri Press, 2017.

“When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world.”

―George Washington Carver [As quoted in a documentary (2006) about Pearl Fryer, “A Man Named Pearl”].