“Just at this point of my progress, Mr. Auld found out what was going on, and at once forbade Mrs. Auld to instruct me further, telling her, among other things, that it was unlawful, as well as unsafe, to teach a slave to read. To use his own words, further, he said, "If you give a [n****r] an inch, he will take an ell. A [n****r] should know nothing but to obey his master--to do as he is told to do. Learning would spoil the best [n****r] in the world. Now," said he, "if you teach that [n****r] (speaking of myself) how to read, there would be no keeping him. It would forever unfit him to be a slave. He would at once become unmanageable, and of no value to his master. As to himself, it could do him no good, but a great deal of harm. It would make him discontented and unhappy.”
Source: Narrative of the Life of Frederick Douglass
“I have no problem with boredom, or not knowing what to do next. My only problem-which I may never solve--is finding enough time to do all the things I would like to do.”
Source: Never Too Late: My Musical Life Story
“Ignorance is not bliss, but acceptance of ignorance is.”
Source: Good Scientist: When Science and Service Combine
“I don’t want to fear the mess that I’ve made of the past, nor fear the mess that I feel I’ll make of the future. What I want to do is to realize that I stand in a moment between both that is dictated by neither. Therefore, I have the power to heal from the former and change the latter.”
“Learn to forgive yourself by forgiving someone else first.”
Source: Black Sheep: Unleash the Extraordinary, Awe-Inspiring, Undiscovered You
“We may each be good at certain things but all of us are a bunch of dum-dums in most things.”
Source: Good Scientist: When Science and Service Combine
“Whatever it was, from the moment her fire had found his, her fate was sealed.”
Source: The Annihilator
“A child should be educated, not to earn a living, but to build a world.”
Source: Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent
“Show me a mediocre student with a lot of questions, I'll show you a genius - show me a smart student with a lot of answers, I'll show you second-hand human.”
Source: Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent
“Intelligence can get you from A to B, but curiosity will get you through infinity.”
Source: Boldly Comes Justice: Sentient Not Silent