Booker T. Washington

The white man who begins by cheating a Negro usually ends by cheating a white man.

I have noted time and time again that when an individual perjures himself in order to break the force of the black man’s ballot, he soon learns to practise dishonesty in other relations of life, not only where the Negro is concerned, but…

The wrong to the Negro is temporary, but to the morals of the white man the injury is permanent.

I am made to feel just as happy now when I am rendering service to Southern white men as when the service is rendered to a member of my own race.

With God’s help, I believe that I have completely rid myself of any ill feeling toward the Southern white man for any wrong that he may have inflicted upon my race.

It is now long ago that I learned this lesson from General Armstrong, and resolved that I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.

I learned that assistance given to the weak makes the one who gives it strong; and that oppression of the unfortunate makes one weak.

From his example in this respect I learned the lesson that great men cultivate love, and that only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.

Had we started in a fine, attractive, convenient room, I fear we would have “lost our heads” and become “stuck up.” It means a great deal, I think, to start off on a foundation which one has made for one’s self.

But gradually, with patience and hard work, we brought order out of chaos, just as will be true of any problem if we stick to it with patience and wisdom and earnest effort.

In fact, in those earlier years I was constantly embarrassed because people seemed to have more faith in me than I had in myself.

The individual who can do something that the world wants done will, in the end, make his way regardless of race.