“Political activity alone cannot make a man free. Back of the ballot, he must have property, industry, skill, economy, intelligence, and character.”

I pity from the bottom of my heart any nation or body of people that is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery.

Character is power.

From some things that I have said one may get the idea that some of the slaves did not want freedom. This is not true. I have never seen one who did not want to be free, or one who would return to slavery.

I believe that my race will succeed in proportion as it learns to do a common thing in an uncommon manner; learns to do a thing so thoroughly that no one can improve upon what it has done; learns to make its services of indispensable value.

Many strikes and similar disturbances might be avoided if the employers would cultivate the habit of getting nearer to their employees, of consulting and advising with them, and letting them feel that the interests of the two are the same.

An ounce of application is worth a ton of abstraction.

I early learned that it is a hard matter to convert an individual by abusing him, and that this is more often accomplished by giving credit for all the praiseworthy actions performed than by calling attention alone to all the evil done.

No man, who continues to add something to the material, intellectual and moral well-being of the place in which he lives, is left long without proper reward.

My whole life has largely been one of surprises.

Decide to be your best. In the long run the world is going to want and have the best and that might as well be you.

I shall never permit myself to stoop so low as to hate any man.

We don’t just borrow words; on occasion, English has pursued other languages down alleyways to beat them unconscious and rifle their pockets for new vocabulary.

Success is not measured by where you are in life, but the obstacles you’ve over come

We went into slavery with chains clanking about our wrists; we came out with the American ballot in our hands.

The highest test of the civilization of any race is in its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate.

Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.

Ninety-nine percent of leadership failures are failures of character.

You can get to know me through my music.

War exposes the best and worst of those who are called to fight. I know of no man who lacked character in peace and then discovered his character in combat.

I admire men of character and I judge character not by how men deal with their superiors, but mostly how they deal with their subordinates. And that, to me, is where you find out what the character of a man is.

If you have character, that means the guy you are dealing with can trust you.

There are times when I am so unlike myself that I might be taken for someone else of an entirely opposite character.

The men trust in you, have faith in you, and they obey, no questions asked. That’s character in a nutshell.

Leadership is a potent combination of strategy and character. But if you must be without one, be without the strategy.