I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTONMere connection with what is known as a superior race will not permanently carry an individual forward unless the individual has worth.
More Booker T. Washington Quotes
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No one can degrade us except ourselves.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
…those who are guilty of such sweeping criticisms [of the rich] do not know how many people would be made poor, and how much sufering would result, if wealthy people were to part all at once with any large proportion of their wealth in a way to disorganize and cripple great business enterprises.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
The thing to do when one feels sure that he has said or done the right thing and is condemned, is to stand still and keep quiet. If he is right, time will show it.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
We must reinforce argument with results.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
Educated men and women, especially those who are in college, very often get the idea that religion is fit only for the common people. No young man or woman can make a greater error than this.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
The happiest people are those who do the most for others. The most miserable are those who do the least.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
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.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
The time will come when the Negro in the South will be accorded all the political rights which his ability, character, and material possessions entitle him to.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
I do not believe that one should speak unless, deep down in his heart, he feels convinced that he has a message to deliver.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
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.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
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.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
I believe that any man’s life will be filled with constant and unexpected encouragement, if he makes up his mind to do his level best each day, and as nearly as possible reaching the high-water mark of pure and useful living.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
It is important and right that all privileges of the law be ours, but it is vastly more important that we be prepared for the exercise of those privileges.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON -
To those of my race who depend on bettering their condition in a foreign land or who underestimate the importance of cultivating friendly relations with the Southern white man, who is their next-door neighbor, I would say ‘Cast down your bucket where you are.’
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON






