Quotes from Mary McLeod Bethune

...the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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

What does the Negro want? His answer is very simple. He wants only what all other Americans want. He wants opportunity to make real what the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution and the Bill of Rights say, what the Four Freedoms establish. While he knows these ideals are open to no man completely, he wants only his equal chance to obtain them.

If we accept and acquiesce in the face of discrimination, we accept the responsibility ourselves and allow those responsible to salve their conscience by believing that they have our acceptance and concurrence. We should, therefore, protest openly everything… that smacks of discrimination or slander.

For I am my mother's daughter, and the drums of Africa still beat in my heart.

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

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.

Faith is the first factor in a life devoted to service. Without it, nothing is possible. With it, nothing is impossible.

Knowledge is the prime need of the hour.

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.