What does "water seeks its own level" mean?

frances ellen watkins harper writing was influenced by: b. the education she received growing up in the north.

she was born in baltimore, maryland, on september 24, 1825. after the death of her parents, her uncle reverend william watkins, a teacher at the academy for negro youth, raised and educated her. she also continued educating herself by accessing a library of the family she worked for, beginning writing poetry afterwards. as a civil rights activist and abolitionist, watkins greatly influenced her life and work.