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.
Interpretation
Seeing real achievements is far more impactful than mere discussions about potential.
Booker T. Washington emphasizes the importance of tangible accomplishments over theoretical discussions. The quote suggests that witnessing the results of hard work, particularly by marginalized communities, carries more weight and influence than simply talking about what could or should be done. It highlights the value of practical examples as motivational and transformative forces in society.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech on community development to illustrate the impact of real projects.
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.
Great men cultivate love...only little men cherish a spirit of hatred
Never continue in a job you don't enjoy. If you're happy in what you're doing, you'll like yourself, you'll have inner peace. And if you have that, along with physical health, you will have had more success than you could possibly have imagined.
I think I was the best baseball player I ever saw.
You don't need to be an expert in order to achieve satisfactory investment returns. But if you aren't, you must recognize your limitations and follow a course certain to work reasonably well. Keep things simple and don't swing for the fences.
I would prefer to grow with the team inside Nintendo rather than taking anyone from outside. It would be a joy for me if someone who was working with me became a big success.
Success lies in a masterful consistency around a few fundamentals. It really is simple. Not easy. But simple.
No building is better than its structural foundation, and no man (woman) is better than his (her) mental foundation. When I prepared my original Success Pyramid years ago, I put industriousness and enthusiasm as the two cornerstones with LOYALTY right in the middle of the pyramid - Loyalty to yourself and to all those dependent upon you.
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