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Happy president’s day and happy birthday, President Lincoln.

Did you know President Lincoln was an autodidact?

Autodidacticism (also autodidactism) or self-education (also self-learning and self-teaching) is education without the guidance of masters (such as teachers and professors) or institutions (such as schools). Generally, autodidacts are individuals who choose the subject they will study, their studying material, and the studying rhythm and time. Autodidacts may or may not have formal education, and their study may be either a complement or an alternative to formal education. Many notable contributions have been made by autodidacts.

Wikipedia

He was. Over his lifetime, he built a beautiful brain–through his action. Nearly anyone can.

Here are some other autodidacts you might know

(Wikipedia) There are many more on the Wikipedia list. Civilization was created by many more, though not listed there. Autodidactism is our homo sapiens’ legacy. It makes possible human cognitive supremacy.

• Charles Dickens‘ formal education stopped when he was fifteen years of age. He was an early supporter of self-education.
• Joseph Conrad, regarded as one of the greatest novelists to write in the English language. Though he did not speak English fluently until his twenties, he was a master prose stylist who brought a non-English sensibility into English literature.
• William Faulkner, Nobel Prize for Literature. Dropped out of college.
• Herman Melville, a writer best known for Moby Dick engaged in self-directed learning through his life in literature, aesthetics, criticism and art.
• Russell Crowe He was intending to apply to the National Institute of Dramatic Art. “I was working in a theatre show, and talked to a guy who was then the head of technical support at NIDA”, Crowe has recalled. “I asked him what he thought about me spending three years at NIDA. He told me it’d be a waste of time. He said, ‘You already do the things you go there to learn, and you’ve been doing it for most of your life, so there’s nothing to teach you but bad habits.'”
• Neil Peart, Drummer and lyricist for progressive rock band Rush.^[39] Dropped out of high school but became a voracious reader which led to him being chosen to be the main lyricist for the band. He wrote seven non fiction books and collaborated with science fiction author Kevin J. Anderson on two graphic novels and one short story.
• Frank Lloyd Wright (born Frank Lincoln Wright, 8 June 1867 – 9 April 1959) was an American architect, interior designer, writer and educator, who designed more than 1,000 projects, which resulted in more than 500 completed works.
• Thomas Alva Edison was an American inventor and businessman, who has been described as America’s greatest inventor. He developed many devices that greatly influenced life around the world, including the phonograph, the motion picture camera, and the long-lasting, practical electric light bulb.
• Nikola Tesla, electrical engineer and inventor best known for his contributions to the design of the modern alternating current (AC) electricity supply system never graduated from university.^[41]
• The Wright Brothers, especially Wilbur Wright. Neither brother graduated high school. Wilbur in fact had completed all the course requirements, but his family moved to Ohio in 1885 before graduation. Both brothers were mechanically inclined, with Orville running his own printing press in his teens. They entered the bicycle business as a team in 1892, selling existing models and creating their own brand, the Van Cleve, named after a relative. Wilbur made the first inroads in seriously studying aeronautics and the development of the world’s first successful airplane.
• Benjamin Franklin, American Founding Father, polymath, politician, inventor, scientist, printer, publisher, diplomat, statesman, and writer.
• Abraham Lincoln, American president
• Harry S. Truman, American president

This list goes on and on. See it (one) here.

Autodidacts, that is, those that think for themselves, are a who’s who of success and brilliance. They were not born special. They made themselves special.

So can you. Happy President’s day.