There is no man or woman who begins with meddling with other people's property and affairs, who begins to learn to take that which does not belong to him or her, who is not beginning in a downward path ending in misery, sorrow and disappointment.
Washington describes the negative consequences of dishonesty, emphasizing its destructive path.
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This country demands that every race shall measure itself by the American standard.
By it a race must rise or fall, succeed or fail, and in the last analysis mere sentiment counts for little.
If my life in the past has meant anything in the lifting up of my people and the bringing about of better relations between your race and mine, I assure you from this day it will mean doubly more.
In the economy of God there is but one standard by which an individual can succeed—there is but one for a race.