I am not afraid of being sued by white businessmen. In fact, I should welcome such a law suit.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
History shows that it does not matter who is in power or what revolutionary forces take over the government, those who have not learned to do for themselves and have to depend solely on others never obtain any more rights or privileges in the end than they had in the beginning.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Self-reliance is crucial for obtaining rights and privileges in society.
This quote by Carter G. Woodson emphasizes the importance of self-sufficiency and personal responsibility. It suggests that regardless of the political landscape or changes in leadership, individuals who do not take initiative and depend on others will struggle to gain rights and privileges, remaining stagnant in their situation. The statement highlights that true empowerment comes from the ability to take action and provide for oneself, rather than relying on external authorities or systems.
Themes
Self-RelianceEmpowermentPersonal ResponsibilityEducationRights
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of education and self-improvement.
More from Carter G. Woodson
All quotes →If Liberia has failed, then, it is no evidence of the failure of the Negro in government. It is merely evidence of the failure of slavery.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
If the Negroes are to remain forever removed from the producing atmosphere, and the present discrimination continues, there will be nothing left for them to do.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
Those who have no record of what their forebears have accomplished lose the inspiration which comes from the teaching of biography and history.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
The different ness of races, moreover, is no evidence of superiority or of inferiority. This merely indicates that each race has certain gifts which the others do not possess.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
This assumption of Negro leadership in the ghetto, then, must not be confined to matters of religion, education, and social uplift; it must deal with such fundamental forces in life as make these things possible.
Carter G. WoodsonRead
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I read Carver. Julio Cortázar. Amis's essays. Baldwin. Lorrie Moore. Capote. Saramago. Larkin. Wodehouse. Anything, anything at all, that doesn't sound like me.
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Make this the golden rule, the equivalent of the Hippocratic oath: Everything we ask a child to do should be worth doing.
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