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At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence.

Booker T. Washington

My whole life has largely been one of surprises.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Life Oneself Surprise
Political activity alone cannot make a man free. Back of the ballot, he must have property, industry, skill, economy, intelligence, and character.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Alone Character Economy Freedom Intelligence Man Politics Skills
The happiest people are those who do the most for others. The most miserable are those who do the least.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Happiness Less Misery People
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. WASHINGTON

Color Hate Himself Man Soul
Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Beginning Dignity Glorify Labor Life
I shall never permit myself to stoop so low as to hate any man.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Hate Man Myself Permit
Great men cultivate love and only little men cherish a spirit of hatred; assistance given to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; oppression of the unfortunate makes one weak.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Cherish Cultivation Greatness Love Strong Weakness
Mere connection with what is known as a superior race will not permanently carry an individual forward unless the individual has worth.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Carry Connection Race Superior Worth
The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what the man or woman is able to do that counts.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Care Count Man Woman World
The older I grow, the more I am convinced that there is no education which one can get from books and costly apparatus that is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Education Greatness Growth Man Old Woman
No one can degrade us except ourselves.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Exception Ourselves Validation Value
Start where you are with what you have, knowing that what you have is plenty enough.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Enough Start Yourself
No white American ever thinks that any other race is wholly civilized until he wears the white man’s clothes, eats the white man’s food, speaks the white man’s language, and professes the white man’s religion.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Civilization Man Race Religion Thinking White
You may fill your heads with knowledge or skillfully train your hands, but unless it is based upon high, upright character, upon a true heart, it will amount to nothing. You will be no better than the most ignorant.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Head Heart Ignorance Knowledge Skills Training Yourself
There is no defense or security for any of us except in the highest intelligence and development of all.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Development Exception High Intelligence Security
A race, like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others up.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Empowerment Lift Race
An inch of progress is worth more than a yard of complaint.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Complain Value Worth
We do not want the men of another color for our brothers-in-law, but we do want them for our brothers.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Brother Color Man
If you truly want to measure the success of a man, you do not measure it by a position he has achieved, but by the obstacles he has overcome.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Achievement Himself Man Measurement Position Success True
No race that has anything to contribute to the markets of the world is long in any degree ostracized.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Contribution Degree Market Race
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

Ability Character Himself Politics Possession Right Time
I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always ready to explain why one cannot succeed.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Beginning Ideas Oneself Patience Success
Success waits patiently for anyone who has the determination and strength to seize it.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Capture Determination Patience Strength Success
The longer I live and the more experience I have of the world, the more I am convinced that, after all, the one thing that is most worth living for-and dying for, if need be-is the opportunity of making someone else more happy.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Death Experience Live Myself Opportunity World Worth
I think I have learned that the best way to lift one’s self up is to help someone else.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Help Learning Lift Myself Thinking Way
No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Poem Prosperity Race Writing
Character is power.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Character One Liner Power

At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence.

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At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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