Quotes to inspire and reflect

If the negro knows enough to fight for his country he knows enough to vote; if he knows enough to pay taxes for the support of the government, he knows enough to vote; if he knows as much when sober, as an Irishman knows when drunk, he knows enough to vote.

No one is free, even the birds are chained to the sky

All great qualities are never found in any one man or in any one race. The whole of humanity, like the whole of everything else, is ever greater than a part. Men only know themselves by knowing others, and contact is essential to this knowledge.

No man can be truly free whose liberty is dependent upon the thought, feeling and action of others, and who has himself no means in his own hands for guarding, protecting, defending and maintaining that liberty.

Though they come as the waves come, we shall be all the stronger if we receive them as friends and give them a reason for loving our country and our institutions.

If nothing is expected of a people, that people will find it difficult to contradict that expectation.

Opportunity is important but exertion is indispensable.

The Constitution itself. Its language is 'we the people'. Not we the white people, not even we the citizens, not we the privileged class, not we the high, not we the low, but we the people.

Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will.

For it is not light that is needed, but fire; it is not the gentle shower, but thunder. We need the storm, the whirlwind, and the earthquake. The feeling of the nation must be quickened; the conscience of the nation must be roused; the propriety of the nation must be startled; the hypocrisy of the nation must be exposed; and its crimes against God and man must be proclaimed and denounced.

I will, in the name of humanity which is outraged, in the name of liberty which is fettered, in the name of the constitution and the Bible, which are disregarded and trampled upon, dare to call in question and to denounce, with all the emphasis I can command, everything that serves to perpetuate slavery

The ground which a colored man occupies in this country is, every inch of it, sternly disputed.

No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.

Though conscious of the difficulty of learning without a teacher, I set out with high hope, and a fixed purpose, at whatever cost of trouble, to learn how to read.

Intelligence is a great leveler here as elsewhere

The soul that is within me no man can degrade.

Knowledge unfits a child to be a slave

It is easier to build strong children than to repair broken men.

The white man's happiness cannot be purchased by the black man's misery.

Right is of no sex, Truth is of no color, God is the Father of us all, and we are all Brethren.

Laughter is timeless. Imagination has no age. And dreams are forever.

Too many people grow up. That's the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up. They don't remember what it's like to be 12 years old. They patronize, they treat children as inferiors. Well I won't do that.

Courage is the main quality of leadership, in my opinion, no matter where it is exercised.

We're not trying to entertain the critics … I'll take my chances with the public.

I suppose my formula might be: dream, diversify and never miss an angle.

Over at our place, we're sure of just one thing: everybody in the world was once a child.

A person should set his goals as early as he can and devote all his energy and talent to getting there. With enough effort, he may achieve it. Or he may find something that is even more rewarding. But in the end, no matter what the outcome, he will know he has been alive.

When you believe in a thing, believe in it all the way, implicitly and unquestionable.

Girls bored me, they still do. I love Mickey Mouse more than any woman I've ever known

When you're curious, you find lots of interesting things to do.

The era we are living in today is a dream of coming true.

The more you like yourself, the less you are like anyone else, which makes you unique.

You may not realize it when it happens, but a kick in the teeth may be the best thing in the world for you.

I only hope that we never lose sight of one thing — that it was all started by a mouse.

I would rather entertain and hope that people learned something than educate people and hope they were entertained.

Once a man has tasted freedom, he will never be content to be a slave.

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, and doing new things, because we're curious and curiosity keeps leading us down new paths.

Somehow, I can't believe that there are any heights that can't be scaled by a man who knows the secret of making dreams come true.

If you can dream it, you can do it.

Time is the friend of the wonderful company, the enemy of the mediocre.

You do things when the opportunities come along. I've had periods in my life when I've had a bundle of ideas come along, and I've had long dry spells. If I get an idea next week, I'll do something. If not, I won't do a damn thing.

The only time to buy these is on a day with no 'y' in it.

Of the billionaires I have known, money just brings out the basic traits in them. If they were jerks before they had money, they are simply jerks with a billion dollars.

If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians.

Risk comes from not knowing what you're doing.

Look at market fluctuations as your friend rather than your enemy; profit from folly rather than participate in it.

I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am an investor.

It's far better to buy a wonderful company at a fair price than a fair company at a wonderful price.