My mother helped me understand how not to show off what I knew, but how to use it so that others might benefit.
Interpretation
The quote emphasizes the importance of humility in sharing knowledge for the benefit of others.
In this quote, Dorothy Height reflects on the lessons taught by her mother regarding the responsible use of knowledge. Instead of flaunting what one knows, the quote advocates for using that knowledge to support and uplift others, highlighting the value of humility and communal growth over self-promotion.
In practice
In a speech about mentorship, I could use this quote to describe the role of a mentor.
I think of my life as a unity of circles. Some are concentric, others overlap, but they all connect in some way. Sometimes the connections don't happen for years. But when they do, I marvel. As in a shimmering kaleidoscope, familiar patterns keep unfolding
Progress comes from caring more about what needs to be done than about who gets the credit
We had people of all backgrounds coming together - all races, all creeds, all colors, all status in life. And coming together there was a kind of quiet dignity and a kind of sense of caring and a feeling of joint responsibility.
There is no contradiction between effective law enforcement and respect for civil and human rights.
The Black family of the future will foster our liberation, enhance our self-esteem, and shape our ideas and goals.
We have to improve life, not just for those who have the most skills and those who know how to manipulate the system. But also for and with those who often have so much to give but never get the opportunity.
Everywhere I go, the kids call me 'the book lady.' The older I get, the more appreciative I seem to be of the 'book lady' title. It makes me feel more like a legitimate person, not just a singer or an entertainer. But it makes me feel like I've done something good with my life and with my success.
Praise your child explicitly for how capable they are of learning rather than telling them how smart they are.
If you read all the time what other people have done, you will the think the way they thought.
You think me foolish to call instruction a torment, but if you had been as much used as myself to hear poor little children first learning their letters and then learning to spell, if you had ever seen how stupid they can be for a whole morning together, and how tired my poor mother is at the end of it, as I am in the habit of seeing almost every day of my life at home, you would allow that to torment and to instruct might sometimes be used as synonymous words.
The goal of education is not to increase the amount of knowledge but to create the possibilities for a child to invent and discover, to create men who are capable of doing new things.
Everybody should be interested in access to primary and secondary education for everybody.
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