Booker T. Washington: “Books, tools, and industries are but the means to fit you for something that is higher and better.”

As a rule, not only did the members of my race entertain no feelings of bitterness against the whites before and during the war, but there are many instances of Negroes tenderly caring for their former masters and mistresses who for some…

When they saw that I was not afraid or ashamed to work, they began to assist with more enthusiasm.

Despite this disappointment, however, I determined that I would learn something, anyway.

From the time that I can remember anything, almost every day of my life had been occupied in some kind of labour; though I think I would now be a more useful man if I had had time for sports.