I have just been looking at research upon my new work of 'self made' and have come across the term of 'self made man'. Which is basically associated with the rags to riches story...
'A self made man is anyone who attains far greater success than his original circumstances would have indicated was possible. The self made man often has to overcome great obstacles to achieve his goals. Self made men attain their success through education, hard work, and sheer willpower. While no man is an island, it’s not external help or special relationships that make the crucial difference in the self-made man’s rise.'
I thought this was pretty weird as it sort of ties in with the 'modern gentleman' work, while coinciding with the new work I'm undergoing. It is a very interesting subject though, with this idea of rags to riches from your own hard work, I suppose that anything you put your time into something good comes out of it. There is a list of men that they think fits the self made man status, and it ranges from P-Diddy, Benjamin Franklin and Ben & Jerry's!
It got me thinking that maybe anything that is self made is of merit, that is if it actually has time and care taken over doing it.