Joseph Carey Merrick

Joseph Carey Merrick ( 1862 - 1890 ) also known as The Elephant Man, hidden behind the Mask of Deformity, had the soul & Intelligence of a beautiful & Dignified Human Being. Probably the most courageous human who ever lived, much is to be learn from his life story. The above picture is Joseph Merrick & Joseph Merrick without the deformities. A gentlemen he must have been.

" Tis true my form is something odd,
but blaming me is blaming God.
Could I create myself anew,
I would not fail in pleasing you.

Was I so tall, could reach the pole,
or grasp the ocean with a span;
I would be measured by the soul.
The mind's the standard of the man."

- a poem often used by Joseph Merrick to end his letters of thanks

Comparing Joseph Merrick to the 'disabled minds" of our society in the 21st century..