Booker T. Washington was arguably the most famous and influential African American of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. His life was an improbable and inspiring climb from the slave cabin where he was born to the college president’s mansion where he died. He used his own life story— detailed in the bestselling autobiography “Up from Slavery”—as a model for the qualities he saw as most necessary for blacks in post-Reconstruction America: diligence, commitment to education, physical labor, self-help and a willingness to work within the status quo. Here are some of his quotes for you to stay inspired while you also learn secrets that shall lead you to success

1. “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.”