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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

I pity from the bottom of my heart any individual who is so unfortunate as to get into the habit of holding race prejudice, for nothing else makes one so blind and narrow.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Habit Heart Hold Narrow Unfortunate
I think I have learned, in some degree at least, to disregard the old maxim “”Do not get others to do what you can do yourself.”” My motto on the other hand is; “”Do not do that which others can do as well.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Affirmation Learning Myself Thinking
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
Whenever your life touches mine, you make me stronger of weaker… there is no escape… people drag others or lift others up.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Escape Life People Strong Touch Weakness Yourself
It means a great deal, I think, to start off on a foundation which one has made for oneself.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Deal Foundation Greatness Myself Start Thinking
The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

End Himself Race Regard Willing World
It often requires more courage to suffer in silence than to rebel, more courage not to strike back than to retaliate, more courage to be silent than to speak.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Courage Rebel Silence Suffering
Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Character Circumstance Man
There is no escape – man drags man down, or man lifts man up.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Escape Help Man
Progress, progress is the law of nature; under God it shall be our eternal guiding star.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

God Guide Law Nature Progress Star
If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Attention Feeling Inheritance Life Mom Myself Worth
Holding a grudge does not hurt the person against whom the grudge is held, it hurts the one who holds it.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Hold Hurt Oneself Person
Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot, but men cannot make laws that will bind or retard the growth of manhood.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Growth Law Man Stop
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
We shall prosper as we learn to do the common things of life in an uncommon way. Let down your buckets where you are.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Learning Life Prosperity Way Yourself
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

Learning Measurement Myself Position 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 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
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
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

College Education Errors Man Religion Woman
Let our opportunities overshadow our grievances.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Grief Opportunity Ourselves Shadow
My whole life has largely been one of surprises.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Life Oneself Surprise
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
The circumstances that surround a man’s life are not important. How that man responds to those circumstances IS IMPORTANT. His response is the ultimate determining factor between success and failure.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Circumstance Determination Factor Failure Important Life Man Success Surround
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
If you can’t read, it’s going to be hard to realize dreams.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Dreams Hard Reading Realization
You go to school, you study about the Germans and the French, but not about your own race. I hope the time will come when you study black history too.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Black Ethnic History Myself Race 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.

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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.

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