Mary McLeod Bethune Quotes

I do feel, in my dreamings and yearnings, so undiscovered by those who are able to help me.

Whatever glory belongs to the race for a development unprecedented in history for the given length of time, a full share belongs to the womanhood of the race.

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

Knowledge is the prime need of the hour.

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

I never stop to plan. I take things step by step.

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.

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

Enter to learn; depart to serve.

I thought, maybe the difference between white folks and colored is just this matter of reading and writing. I made up my mind I would know my letters.

I have had more than half a century of such happiness. A great deal of worry and sorrow, too, but never a worry or a sorrow that was not offset by a purple iris, a lark, a bluebird, or a dewy morning glory.

Without faith nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.

In each experience of my life, I have had to step out of one little space of the known light, into a large area of darkness. I had to stand awhile in the darkness, and then gradually God has given me light. But not to linger in. For as soon as that light has felt familiar, then the call has always come to step out ahead again into new darkness.

From the first, I made my learning, what little it was, useful every way I could.

You white folks have long been eating the white meat of the chicken. We Negroes are now ready for some of the white meat instead of the dark meat.

Greatness is largely a social accident, and almost always socially supported.

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!

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.

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

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

We have a powerful potential in out youth, and we must have the courage to change old ideas and practices so that we may direct their power toward good ends.

The drums of Africa still beat in my heart. They will not let me rest while there is a single Negro boy or girl without a chance to prove his worth.

[To the patronizing train conductor who had twice said, 'Auntie, give me your ticket':] Which of my sister's sons are you?

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.