True politeness is to social life what oil is to machinery, a thing to oil the ruts and grooves of existence. False politeness can shine without warming and glitter without vivifying.

We are all bound up together in one great bundle of humanity, and society cannot trample on the weakest and feeblest of its members without receiving the curse in its own soul.

My hands were weak, but I reached them out To feebler ones than mine, and over the shadow of my life Stole the light of a peace divine.

Slavery is dead, but the spirit which animated it still lives.

The respect that is only bought by gold is not worth much.

I find, by close observation, that the mothers are the levers which move in education. The men talk about it . . . but the women work most for it.

If we have had no past, it is well for us to look hopefully to the future - for the shadows bear the promise of a brighter coming day.

I belong to this race, and when it is down I belong to a down race; when it is up I belong to a risen race.

The true aim of female education should be, not a development of one or two, but all the faculties of the human soul, because no perfect womanhood is developed by imperfect culture.

Apparent failure may hold in its rough shell the germs of a success that will blossom in time, and bear fruit throughout eternity.

Oh, could slavery exist long if it did not sit on a commercial throne?

I'm a big cockeyed optimist. I try to accentuate the positive as opposed to the negative.

The straw hat is the typical hat Cubans use. It's cool and keeps the sun away from your face.

Vodou is one of the religions practiced in Haiti, a rich religion for the people.

Human beings should not be reduced to a state to where they almost get into a fight over a small bar of soap.

Never mishandle hope or self-confidence - those are elements of life, not just a game.

To receive a present handsomely and in a right spirit, even when you have none to give in return, is to give one in return.

I believe in love, children and being a good person.

I'm not brave at all.

When I was flying to Rome, we flew over London; I felt like bursting into tears. It's part of me, so I can't leave London behind for good.