Benjamin Banneker Quotes

“Presumption should never make us neglect that which appears easy to us, nor despair make us lose courage at the sight of difficulties.”

“Standing at my door, I heard the discharge of a gun, and in four or five seconds of time, after the discharge, the small shot came rattling about me, one or two of which struck the house; which plainly demonstrates that the velocity of sound is greater than that of a cannon bullet.”

“The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.”

“Evil communication corrupts good manners. I hope to live to hear that good communication corrects bad manners.”

“Justice is truth in action.~ BENJAMIN DISRAELI, speech, Feb. 11, 1851”

“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I may remember, involve me and I learn."Benjamin Franklin never said those words, he was falsely attributed on a respected quotation website and it spread from there. The quote comes from the Xunzi.Xun Kuang was a Chinese Confucian philosopher that lived from 312-230 BC. His works were collected into a set of 32 books called the Xunzi, by Liu Xiang in about 818 AD. There are woodblock copies of these books that are almost 1100 years old.Book 8 is titled Ruxiao ("The Teachings of the Ru"). The quotation in question comes from Chapter 11 of that book. In Chinese the quote is:不闻不若闻之, 闻之不若见之, 见之不若知之, 知之不若行之It is derived from this paragraph:Not having heard something is not as good as having heard it; having heard it is not as good as having seen it; having seen it is not as good as knowing it; knowing it is not as good as putting it into practice. (From the John Knoblock translation, which is viewable in Google Books)The first English translation of the Xunzi was done by H.H. Dubs, in 1928, one-hundred and thirty-eight years after Benjamin Franklin died.”

“Outstanding success in life, leadership, business, marriage and ministry always come down to a test of whether or not you will make a sacrifice when no one else is watching. The key to our success is what we will do when no one will applaud us or even notice us.”

“Two categories of people can be found in the world today. There are those who make things happen and there are those who watch things happen. A spectator watch things happen while a player make things happen. In the same vein, history writers watch things happen and history makers make things happen. This is why history writers are always at the mercy of history makers.”

“Live a life of purpose. Be a voice to be reckoned with. Do not be lost in the midst of the crowd. Contribute your own quota to the transformation going on where God planted you.”

“Never allow your head to be buried in the grave of the fearful, mediocrity, and purposeless. Get up and begin to produce something great with your life. Stand out and stand tall.”