Have you ever heard of Booker T. Washington? If not then you are in for a treat! He was a remarkable American leader. What’s amazing about him is that despite being born into slavery, he climbed to become a successful person.
His narrative is extremely motivating, but it is his quotes that I find most fascinating. These brief yet profound statements provide insight into his philosophy and worldview, and may still encourage and motivate us today.
In this article, we’ll look at some of the most famous quotes by Booker T. Washington. We’ll explore what they signify, how they relate to his life and work, and why they’re still relevant today.
I hope that at the end of this article, you will have a better understanding of Booker T. Washington and the influence he had on American history and civil rights. So let’s get started!
Who is Booker T. Washington
Booker T. Washington was a prominent American figure known for his advocacy of education and economic development for African Americans. He was born into slavery but rose to become an educator, novelist, and civil rights leader.
Washington founded the Tuskegee Institute, now known as Tuskegee University, in Alabama, which provided vocational training to Black Americans, helping them achieve financial independence and success.
Here are some well-known facts about Washington:
- Booker T. Washington was born as a slave in Virginia in 1856. He spent his early life laboring in tobacco fields and coal mines, but when the Civil War ended, he was able to attend school.
- Washington believed that economic success was the key to improving African American rights, and he fought to encourage the black community’s economic development.
- He was key to founding the National Black Business League, which aimed at promoting black-owned companies and trade organizations.
- In 1895, Washington made a historic speech in Atlanta called the Atlanta Compromise, in which he advised Black People to focus on economic advancement and self-improvement, rather than seeking instant political and social equality.
Inspirational Booker T. Washington Quotes
You can’t hold a man down without staying down with him.
An ounce of application is worth a ton of abstraction.
Excellence is to do a common thing in an uncommon way.
I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles that one has overcome while trying to succeed.
There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.
I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
No race can prosper until it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.
No man who continues to add something to the material, intellectual, and moral well-being of the place in which he lives is left long without proper reward.
If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.
Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.
We all should rise, above the clouds of ignorance, narrowness, and selfishness.
There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of high, pure, simple, and useful life.
No man who continues to add something to the material, intellectual, and moral well-being of the place in which he lives is left long without proper reward.
Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
There are two ways of exerting one’s strength; one is pushing down, and the other is pulling up.
The happiest people are those who do the most for others. The most miserable are those who do the least.
Success waits patiently for anyone who has the determination and strength to seize it.
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
I would permit no man, no matter what his color might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.
Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than to be in bad company.
There are two ways of exerting one’s strength: one is pushing down, and the other is pulling up.
Success is not measured by where you are in life, but by the obstacles you’ve overcome.
Political activity alone cannot make a man free. Back off the ballot, he must have property, industry, skill, economy, intelligence, and character.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which one has overcome.
The older I grow, the more I am convinced that there is no education which one can get from books and costly apparatus that is equal to that which can be gotten from contact with great men and women.
Great men cultivate love…only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.
Decide to be your best. In the long run, the world is going to want and have the best and that might as well be you.
Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
Holding a grudge does not hurt the person against whom the grudge is held, it hurts the one who holds it.
No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.
The highest test of the civilization of any race is in its willingness to extend a helping hand to the less fortunate.
Egotism is the anesthetic that dulls the pain of stupidity.
Men may make laws to hinder and fetter the ballot, but men cannot make laws that will bind or retard the growth of manhood.
No greater injury can be done to any youth than to let him feel that because he belongs to this or that race he will be advanced in life regardless of his own merits or efforts.
The world cares very little about what you or I know, but it does care a great deal about what you or I do.
An inch of progress is worth more than a yard of a complaint.
Of all forms of slavery, there is none that is so harmful and degrading as that form of slavery which tempts one human being to hate another by reason of his race or color.
There is no escape — man drags man down, or man lifts man up.
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Few things help an individual more than placing responsibility upon him and letting him know that you trust him.
I pity from the bottom of my heart any nation or body of people that is so unfortunate as to get entangled in the net of slavery.
Start where you are with what you have, knowing that what you have is plenty enough.
Those who are happiest are those who do the most for others.
Providence so often uses men and institutions to accomplish a purpose.
Ignorance is more costly to any State than education.
We must reinforce the argument with results.
Lay hold of something that will help you, and then use it to help somebody else.
The individual who can do something that the world wants to be done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.
Those who have accomplished the greatest results are those…who never grow excited or lose self-control but are always calm, self-possessed, patient, and polite.
I have begun everything with the idea that I could succeed, and I never had much patience with the multitudes of people who are always ready to explain why one cannot succeed.
No greater injury can be done to any youth than to let him feel that because he belongs to this or that race he will be advanced in life regardless of his own merits or efforts.
Famous Booker T. Washington Quotes
I shall never permit myself to stoop so low as to hate any man.
He who lives outside the law is a slave. The free man is the man who lives within the law, whether that law is physical or divine.
There is no power on earth that can neutralize the influence of high, simple and useful life.
Never let your work drive you. Master it and keep it in complete control.
Great men cultivate love… Only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.
At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, and even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race’s economic independence.
Life is not worth much and it cannot be said, when it comes to its close, that it was helpful to humanity.
An ounce of application is worth a ton of abstraction.
There is no escape – man drags man down, or man lifts man up.
No one can degrade us except ourselves.
We should not permit our grievances to overshadow our opportunities.
Opportunities never come a second time, nor do they wait for our leisure.
It often requires more courage to suffer in silence than to rebel, more courage not to strike back than to retaliate, and more courage to be silent than to speak.
The world cares very little about what a man or woman knows; it is what the man or woman is able to do that counts.
A whining crying race may be pitied but seldom respected.
The happiest people are those who do the most for others. The most miserable are those who do the least.
No man, who continues to add something to the material, intellectual and moral well-being of the place in which he lives, is left long without proper reward.
Political activity alone cannot make a man free. Back off the ballot, he must have property, industry, skill, economy, intelligence, and character.
I would permit no man, no matter what his color might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.
Decide to be your best. In the long run, the world is going to want and have the best and that might as well be you.
Success waits patiently for anyone who has the determination and strength to seize it.
Dignify and glorify common labor. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.
Remember that everyone’s life is measured by the power that individual has to make the world better-this is all life is.
If you are milking cows and feel that you know all that there is to be known about it, you have simply reached the point where you are useless and unfit for the work.
A lie doesn’t become truth, wrong doesn’t become right, and evil doesn’t become good, just because it’s accepted by a majority.
You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you have to overcome to reach your goals.
The individual who can do something that the world wants to be done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.
We do not want men of another color for our brothers-in-law, but we do want them for our brothers.
Then very few people have any idea of the large number of applications for help that rich people are constantly being flooded with.
Education is not what a person is able to hold in his head, so much as it is what a person is able to find.
Wrapping up:
The quotes of Booker T. Washington continue to inspire and motivate people around the world. As we reflect on Booker T. Washington’s legacy, let us strive to live up to his example and embody his values in our own lives.
Let us work hard to overcome obstacles, lift up those around us, and serve our communities with dignity and respect. May we all find the strength and courage to live up to that ideal, and make a positive difference in the world around us.
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