Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.

When they learn of Shakespeare and Goethe, we must teach them of Pushkin and Dumas. . . . Whatever the white man has done, we have done, and often better.

I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity.

I thought, maybe the difference between white folks and colored is just this matter of reading and writing. I made up my mind I would know my letters.

The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.

Cease to be a drudge, seek to be an artist.

I never stop to plan. I take things step-by-step.