Booker Taliaferro Washington was born on April 5 in 1856, in Hale's Ford, Virginia, in the United States of America. He was born in a poor family, but somehow he completed his education. He was born into slavery and rose to become a leading African American intellectual of the 19 century founding the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute (now Tuskegee University) in 1881 and the National Negro Business League two decades later.
He was an American educator, author, orator, and adviser to multiple Presidents of the United States. His Alma mater was Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute Wayland Seminary. He is regarded as the greatest speaker and personality among the African American people. He holds the honour of being notified in the Hall Of Fame For Great Americans in 1945. He went on to receive honorary degrees from Harvard University in 1896 and Dartmouth College in 1901.
His autobiography, Up from Slavery (1901), is among his dozen books, translated into many languages. His book is quite famous because it talks about the rights and liberties of black people in the world. He fought his whole for the rights of the black people. He fought so that the blacks were also given equal opportunities like the white people. Most Blacks felt comfortable with Washington's approach. He also joined the Political party, Republican, to raise his voice for the black people on a larger platform.
He married Fannie N. Smith in 1882. Then he got married to Olivia A. Davidson in 1886. Later, he married Margaret Murray in 1893. He died on November 14, 1915, at 59 in Tuskegee, Alabama, U.S. At the centre of Tuskegee University, the Booker T. Washington Monument was dedicated in 1922. Called Lifting the Veil, the monument has an inscription reading: The people should move on the path of knowledge by ignoring ignorance.
Below are some of the famous Booker T. Washington Quotes.
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
Booker T. Washington was an optimistic man who considered willpower very essential in life. He was in favour of overcoming all the obstacles which come in one's life. One should never give up and move forward so that one can overcome his fears and failures.
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Booker T. Washington advocates the importance of hard work here. He says that nothing can be achieved in life without hard work. Hard work is needed in every part of life, and this hard work bears fruit for a person.
If you want to lift yourself, lift someone else.
To become successful, we need to be sympathetic also. One must be kind to others and caring in nature. You can lift someone, and this is the true art of life that will make you great and prosperous in your field.
Associate yourself with people of good quality, for it is better to be alone than in bad company.
Booker T. Washington was a nice person and believed in the positivity of life. He wants to tell us that we must always be in the company of good people so that we can constantly keep on improving ourselves and be motivated. One must never fall prey to bad company because it brings bad habits into a man's life.
Few things can help an individual more than to place responsibility on him, and to let him know that you trust him.
Being responsible in life is very important. A person must grow positively. He must learn from his surroundings and inculcate these things in his life so that he can lead a prosperous and happy life. Being patient and composed is the key to success.
Continue reading some more Booker T. Washington Quotes...
You can't hold a man down without staying down with him.
A man should always be full of good behaviour and manners. Good manners and etiquettes hone a person and his skills. One must always be sympathetic with the general masses and be ready to help each other so that he can be an asset to society. He must try to uplift the downtrodden section of society wherever he goes.
Excellence is to do a common thing seriously.
Excellence cannot be achieved in one go. It is the continuous effort that is to be done by an individual so that he can upgrade his levels day by day. By upgrading his skills, he is adding excellence to his work.
Character is power.
Booker T. Washington was a positive man. He believed in the power of character. For him, an individual who possessed great qualities was bound to succeed wherever he went. Character building is an essential part of life and plays a vital role in the career enhancement of an individual. Thus, the character is power.
No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.
Booker T. Washington believed in the equal treatment of all sections of society. He says that no person can prosper till he knows the dignity of his work. A person must be full of dignity. He must not consider anything of less purpose. Each and everything in this life has a purpose, and it is to be respected. So the person must have full dignity in whatever he is doing in his life.
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 which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.
Being successful is not a criterion that you have overcome a large number of obstacles. But continuous failure in life and being braver at each time while facing them is the true meaning of success in life. If a person is to be measured as to how much success he is in his field, then we must look at him and his acquaintances to various obstacles while overcoming them.
Few more Booker T. Washington Quotes...
Character, not circumstances, makes the man.
Character indeed is the vital aspect of life that grooms a person to excellence. Character guides a person to follow his dreams and behave diligently at various movements of his life. Management of character is great art that is not easily found in everyone.
There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
Booker T. Washington talks about exerting strength. He says that one can exert strength either by pushing down or by pulling up. According to him, strength requires mental power to deal with a particular situation. Conquering oneself requires a humongous power of strength.
One man cannot hold another man down in the ditch without remaining down in the ditch with him.
Booker T. Washington was a decent man. He had a good character and so he talks about it in this quote. He says that one must be able to hold another person when he is in a dire circumstance. Lifting others in their life is very important so that they can easily manage and get through life.
The individual who can do something that the world wants to be done will, in the end, make his way regardless of his race.
According to Washington, when one person lifts the other section of society at par with the world becomes more important and is not then judged upon the basis of his race. Then the importance of race becomes less important because when an individual does a complex task, he is appreciated.
At the bottom of education, at the bottom of politics, even at the bottom of religion, there must be for our race economic independence.
Booker T. Washington advocated the rights of black people in the world. He wanted to acquire equal opportunities for black people. He talked about the discrimination being faced by black people and the mental harassment they had to face. He says that at the bottom of education, politics and religion, race is prevalent, and this practice must be shunned so that we can be economically independent.
Dignify and glorify common labour. It is at the bottom of life that we must begin, not at the top.
Both dignity and glorification are common labour, as stated by Washington. It is at the core that we all have to work so that we can empower society as a whole. When a lower section of society believes in the dignity of their work, they will only know their importance, achieve more and become a prosperous portion of society.
Some more Booker T. Washington Quotes...
Success in life is founded upon attention to the small things rather than to the large things; to the every day things nearest to us rather than to the things that are remote and uncommon.
In life, small things are the benefactor. The small things when put together make a huge difference in life. And they have a lot of value. Success in life is founded upon the small things, and we all must work towards strengthening them and making it being noticed so that we can bring a positive change in ety.
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.
A person must never be discriminated against by y colour or creed. Discrimination based upon totally this practice must be discontinued. It is because of this practice that the world has suffered a lot. Future revolutions have taken place in the name of caste or creed.
Booker T. Washington talks about the positive change that must be brought so that such practice must be discontinued for the betterment of the people and society.
To hold a man down, you have to stay down with him.
Being humble and down to earth is very important because this thing will help you rise in life and grow as a human being.
No power on earth can hee influence of high, simple and useful life.
Booker T. Washington talks about the importance of simplicity. He says that no power on earth can beat the influence of simple living and high thinking concepts. He emphasizes the role of simplicity in a man's life. This thing will only bring positive change in a person and the whole world.
