The actual sight of a first-class house that a Negro has built is ten times more potent than pages of discussion about a house that he ought to build, or perhaps could build.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
Remember that everyone's life is measured by the power that individual has to make the world better-this is all life is.
Interpretation
Life's value is determined by the positive impact one has on the world.
In this quote, Booker T. Washington emphasizes that the true measure of a person's life lies in their ability to contribute positively to society. He suggests that the essence of existence is intertwined with the actions we take to improve the lives of others and the world around us, urging individuals to recognize their potential for making a difference.
In practice
In a motivational speech about community engagement, this quote can inspire individuals to take action.
The actual sight of a first-class house that a Negro has built is ten times more potent than pages of discussion about a house that he ought to build, or perhaps could build.
Leaders have devoted themselves to politics, little knowing, it seems _x000D_ that political independence disappears without economic independence _x000D_ that economic independence is the foundation of political independence.
You go to school, you study about the Germans and the French, but not about your own race. I hope the time will come when you study black history too.
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.
The only right a Christian has is the right to give up his rights.
There are some kinds of Christianity that insist you have to believe literally in doctrine. The Gnostic gospels open out the complexity and multiplicity of approaches to this. If you think the story of the virgin birth is mistranslated, for instance, it doesn't mean you have to throw out the whole thing.
A city is a place where there is no need to wait for next week to get the answer to a question, to taste the food of any country, to find new voices to listen to and familiar ones to listen to again.
For the majority of us, the past is a regret, the future an experiment
Reason wishes that the judgement it gives be just; anger wishes that the judgement it has given seem to be just.
Our First Amendment expresses a far different calculus for regulating speech than for regulating nonexpressive conduct and that is as it should be. The right to swing your fist should end at the tip of my nose, but your right to express your ideas should not necessarily end at the lobes of my ears.
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