"Viewed from any angle, ignorance is the costliest crop that can be raised in any part of this Union."
"What we need is the performance of duty, of the ordinary duty that the ordinary man or woman has to meet as he or she lives his or her life."
"You can't be as much inspired by anything I may say, as I have been inspired by what I have seen here."
"The hope of advancement for the colored man in the South lies in his steady, commonsense effort to improve his moral and material condition."
"I will be through now in just two minutes more."
"But to be a member of a self-governing community means that if you are to do your part in that community, you must possess the powers of self-restraint, of self-rule, of courage, of honesty, clean liv..."
"It is in the interest, and for the protection, of the white man to see that the negro is educated."
"Finally, and in closing, my friends, let me draw one more lesson from the Civil War; from the experience of the men of the Civil War."
"It is a liberal education in itself just to come here and see this great focus of civilization."
"The one thing this nation cannot afford to neglect is the education of the nation of the future."
"We must remember that we leave this country in the hands of the children of today."
"The man that counts is the average private citizen; he is the man that counts."