abstract:Self-Made Men is a famous lecture (1895). In this speech, which was first delivered in 1859, Frederick Douglass gives his own definition of the self-made man and explains what he thinks are the means to become such a man.
Although the majority of billionaires are self-made men, some inherited their fortunes, while others fought for years in court with siblings, parents and other relatives.
Mr Blair has always admired self-made men such as Sir Richard Branson and may, like many senior politicians, have looked wistfully at the seven figure salaries routinely commanded by Britain's captains of industry.
It is just that I believe that the pendulum has swung so far away from the mythos of the American Dream and self-made men that it is high time to redress the balance through overemphasizing to make my point.