Booker T. Washington: “Now one great mistake that we make in striving to reach these things is that we keep putting off beginning.”

I have never seen one who did not want to be free, or one who would return to slavery.

Having once got its tentacles fastened on to the economic and social life of the Republic, it was no easy matter for the country to relieve itself of the institution.

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

I never saw a man who so completely lost sight of himself.