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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

No one can degrade us except ourselves.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Exception Ourselves Validation Value
A life is not worth much of which it cannot be said, when it comes to its close, that it was helpful to humanity.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Helpful Humanity Inspirational Life
Living is the art of loving. Loving is the art of caring. Caring is the art of sharing. Sharing is the art of living. If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Art Care Live Love Yourself
Start where you are with what you have, knowing that what you have is plenty enough.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Enough Start Yourself
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.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Best Decision World Yourself
Success waits patiently for anyone who has the determination and strength to seize it.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Determination Waiting
It means a great deal, I think, to start off on a foundation which one has made for oneself.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Foundation Mean Thinking
We all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness, and selfishness.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Ignorance Narrow Rise Selfish
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

Heart Nation People Slave Unfortunate
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

Buckets Common Way
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

Freedom Ideas Return Slavery
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
A race, like an individual, lifts itself up by lifting others up.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Individual Integrity Race
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
We must not only become reliable, progressive, skillful and intelligent, but we must keep the idea constantly before our youths that all forms of labor, whether with the hand or head, are honorable.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Hands Ideas Intelligent
Of all forms of slavery there is none that is so harmful and degrading as that form of slavery which tempts one human being to hate another by reason of his race or color.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Hate Men Race
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

Hope Life Success
Wherever, in any country the whole people feel that the happiness of all is dependent upon the happiness of the weakest, there freedom exists.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Country Disadvantage Exist Freedom Happiness
Success waits patiently for anyone who has the determination and strength to seize it.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Capture Determination Patience Strength Success
Think about it: we went into slavery pagans; we came out Christians. We went into slavery pieces of property; we came out American citizens.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Christian Hands Thinking
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
One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Himself Hold Man
An inch of progress is worth more than a yard of complaint.
BOOKER T. WASHINGTON

Complain Value Worth
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
…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

Criticism People Proposition Result
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
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

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.’

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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.’

Related Topics

Popular Authors

More Booker T. Washington Quotes