Qquoteatlas.infoquotes, sources and meanings
Source identified
“I would permit no man, no matter what his colour might be, to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”

Booker T. Washington

Source
Up from Slavery
Date
1901
Attribution
Source identified
Meaning

What does this quote mean?

Washington frames refusal to hate as protection of his own moral agency: another person’s prejudice or wrongdoing should not be allowed to dictate the emotional character of his inner life.

Source context

Where does it come from?

Up from Slavery, Chapter XI, “Making Their Beds Before They Could Lie On Them,” Project Gutenberg #2376. Washington says he learned from General Armstrong to reject racial hatred and applies that lesson specifically to hostility and wrongs inflicted on Black Americans; the historical context remains explicit rather than becoming generic advice to ignore mistreatment.

Primary / edition source ↗

Attribution

How should this attribution be read?

This wording is connected with the named source shown above. Translations and editions can vary, so consult the source note when exact wording matters.

Read the verification method →

Themes

Ideas connected with this quotation