Mary McLeod Bethune Quotes

The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.

If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs.

A woman is free if she lives by her own standards and creates her own destiny, if she prizes her individuality and puts no boundaries on her hopes for tomorrow.

Our children must never lose their zeal for
building a better world.

Education is the great American adventure, the world’s most colossal democratic experiment.

Believe in yourself, learn, and never stop wanting to build a better world.

Forgiving is not about forgetting, it’s letting go of the hurt

Enter to learn; depart to serve.

Cease to be a drudge, seek to be an artist.

To those of you with your years of service still ahead, the challenge is yours. Stop doubting yourselves. Have the courage to make up your minds and hold your decisions. Refuse to be BOUGHT for a nickel, or a million dollars, or a job!

Next to God we are indebted to women, first for life itself, and then for making it worth living.

We live in a world which respects power above all things. Power, intelligently directed, can lead to more freedom. Unwisely directed, it can be a dreadful, destructive force.

The progress of the world will call for the best that all of us have to give.

The true worth of a race must be measured by the character of its womanhood.

I plunged into the job of creating something from nothing…. Though I hadn’t a penny left, I considered cash money as the smallest part of my resources. I had faith in a living God, faith in myself, and a desire to serve.

World peace and brotherhood are based on a common understanding of the contributions and cultures of all races and creeds

Studying goes deeper than mere reading. There are surface nuggets to be gathered but the best of the gold is underneath, and it takes time and labor to secure it.