Mary McLeod Bethune

Cease to be a drudge, seek to be an artist.
Mary McLeod Bethune

For I am my mother's daughter, and 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.
Mary McLeod Bethune

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.
Mary McLeod Bethune

If our people are to fight their way up out of bondage we must arm them with the sword and the shield and the buckler of pride.
Mary McLeod Bethune

If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves. We should, therefore, protest openly everything ... that smacks of discrimination or slander.
Mary McLeod Bethune

Whatever the white man has done, we have done, and often better.
Mary McLeod Bethune

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

The whole world opened to me when I learned to read.
Mary McLeod Bethune

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

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

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.
Mary McLeod Bethune

There is a place in God's sun for the youth "farthest down" who has the vision, the determination, and the courage to reach it.
Mary McLeod Bethune

I never stop to plan. I take things step by step.
Mary McLeod Bethune

Invest in the human soul. Who knows, it might be a diamond in the rough.
Mary McLeod Bethune

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.
Mary McLeod Bethune

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

As I give, I get.
Mary McLeod Bethune

As I give, I get.
Mary McLeod Bethune

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.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Last Will & Testament of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune

Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without it, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Last Will & Testament of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune

Knowledge is the prime need of the hour.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Last Will & Testament of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune

I leave you love. I leave you hope. I leave you the challenge of developing confidence in one another. I leave you respect for the use of power. I leave you faith. I leave you racial dignity.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Last Will & Testament of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune

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.
Mary McLeod Bethune, Last Will & Testament of Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune