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
There are two ways of exerting one's strength: one is pushing down, the other is pulling up.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Strength can be used to harm or to help; the choice is ours.
This quote by Booker T. Washington highlights the dual nature of strength and power, suggesting that we can either use our strength to oppress others or to uplift and support them. It emphasizes the moral responsibility that comes with power: to choose actions that positively impact others and foster growth, rather than using strength for negative purposes.
Themes
StrengthHelpUpliftResponsibilityPower
In practice
Example use cases
In a motivational speech about leadership, one could say, 'As Booker T. Washington said, there are two ways of exerting one's strength: pushing down or pulling up.'
More from Booker T. Washington
All quotes βLeaders 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.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
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.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
Nothing ever comes to one, that is worth having, except as a result of hard work.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
I shall allow no man to belittle my soul by making me hate him.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
If I have done anything in life worth attention, I feel sure that I inherited the disposition from my mother.
Booker T. WashingtonRead
Similar quotes
I find writing extremely difficult. I usually have to drag myself to my desk, mainly because I doubt myself. And it's getting harder because I want to improve with every book.
Markus ZusakRead
The faster I write the better my output. If I'm going slow, I'm in trouble. It means I'm pushing the words instead of being pulled by them.
Raymond ChandlerRead
Don't leave a 'good time' to chance. Experiences have to be woven with care and planning, like a tapestry.
Jim RohnRead
If you do not know the blessings you have when you have them, then Allah will teach you about them by taking them away from you
Ibn Ata AllahRead
Let the unseen days be. Today is more than enough.
J. R. R. TolkienRead
A great man stands on God. A small man on a great man.
Ralph Waldo EmersonRead