Up from Slavery: an autobiography

when the teacher asked me what my full name was, I calmly told him "Booker Washington,"

I got the idea that the way for me to reach school on time was to move the clock hands from half-past eight up to the nine o'clock mark.

I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome while trying to succeed.

When they were slaves, a coloured person was simply called "John" or "Susan." There was seldom occasion for more than the use of the one name.

my full name "Booker Taliaferro Washington."

I recall that I looked forward with an anxious appetite to the "teacher's day" at our little cabin.

the man told me that he knew that he did not have to pay the debt, but that he had given his word to the master, and his word he had never broken. He felt that he could not enjoy his freedom till he had fulfilled his promise.