For nearly a century, the South made itself believe that Negroes and white people were really communicating. So convinced of this were the white Southerners that they almost made the nation believe that they, and only they, knew the mind of the Southern Negro.
BENJAMIN E. MAYSFor nearly a century, the South made itself believe that Negroes and white people were really communicating. So convinced of this were the white Southerners that they almost made the nation believe that they, and only they, knew the mind of the Southern Negro.
More Benjamin E. Mays Quotes
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The tragedy of this life is not failure, but low aim.
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Many well-meaning intelligent people have argued since the May 17, 1954, decision of the United States Supreme Court outlawing segregation in the public schools that communication between the races has broken down.
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Honest communication is built on truth and integrity and upon respect of the one for the other.
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I believe everyone is born into the world to do something unique and distinctive.
BENJAMIN E. MAYS -
It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream.
BENJAMIN E. MAYS -
The circumference of life cannot be rightly drawn until the center is set.
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In this perilous world, if a black boy wanted to live a halfway normal life and die a natural death he had to learn early the art of how to get along with white folks.
BENJAMIN E. MAYS -
The tragedy of life is not found in failure but complacency. Not in you doing too much, but doing too little. Not in you living above your means, but below your capacity. It’s not failure but aiming too low, that is life’s greatest tragedy.
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Failure isn’t in not reaching your goal but in having no goal to reach.
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Whatever you do,strive to do it so well that no man living and no man dead and no man yet to be born could do it any better.
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We, today, stand on the shoulders of our predecessors who have gone before us. We, as their successors, must catch the torch of freedom and liberty passed on to us by our ancestors. We cannot lose in this battle.
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It is not your environment, it is you- the quality of your mind, the integrity of your soul and the determination of your will that will decide your future and shape your life.
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[H]owever hard the road, however difficult today, tomorrow things will be better. Tomorrow may not be better, but we must believe that it will be.
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Every man and woman is born into the world to do something unique and something distinctive and if he or she does not do it, it will never be done.
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It isn’t a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for.
BENJAMIN E. MAYS






