40 Madam C. J. Walker Quotes on Perseverance & Success

Check out the best  Madam C. J. Walker Quotes that inspire determination, self-confidence, and the pursuit of success.

Madam C. J. Walker was an African American entrepreneur, philanthropist, and social activist who became the first self-made female millionaire in the United States.

Born Sarah Breedlove on December 23, 1867, to formerly enslaved parents in Delta, Louisiana, Walker faced immense hardships including poverty, discrimination, and limited opportunities.

However, her courage and determination led her to create her own business. She revolutionized the African American haircare industry by developing and marketing a line of beauty and hair products for Black women.

As the founder of the Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company, Walker not only transformed beauty standards but also empowered Black women by creating economic opportunities.

Her business success allowed her to become a prominent philanthropist and advocate for social change. She donated generously to educational institutions, civil rights organizations, and Black communities. leaving a lasting legacy of empowerment and progress.

Walker’s life is a testament to resilience, perseverance, and breaking barriers, inspiring generations of entrepreneurs, dreamers, and anyone striving for success.

Here are the most famous Madam C.J. Walker quotes that inspire you to work hard and achieve your dreams.

Top 10 Madam C. J. Walker Quotes

1. “Perseverance is my motto.” — Madam C. J. Walker       

   
2. “I got my start by giving myself a start.” — Madam C. J. Walker

   

3. “People are ugly not in their face but in their thoughts.” — Madam C. J. Walker

   

4. “I want you to understand that your first duty is to humanity.” — Madam C. J. Walker      

   

5. “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it!” — Madam C. J. Walker

   

6. “I am not ashamed of my past. I am not ashamed of my humble beginning.” — Madam C. J. Walker  

   

7. “Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” — Madam C. J. Walker

   

8. “If I have accomplished anything in life it is because I have been willing to work hard.” — Madam C. J. Walker

   

9. “It’s pretty hard for the Lord to guide you if you haven’t made up your mind which way to go.” — Madam C. J. Walker

   

10. “I am not satisfied in making money for myself. I endeavor to provide employment for hundreds of the women of my race.” — Madam C. J. Walker

Best Madam C.J. Walker Quotes

1. “There would be no hair growing business today had I not started it.” — Madam C. J. Walker
2. “I feel that I am in a business that is a credit to the womanhood of our race.” — Madam C. J. Walker
3. “I have made it possible for many colored women to abandon the washtub for a more pleasant and profitable occupation.” — Madam C. J. Walker
4. “My advice to every one expecting to go into business is to hit often and hit hard; in other words, strike with all your might.” — Madam C. J. Walker
5. “Never get impressed by someone’s appearance, rather dig deep down into their thoughts to reveal the real person inside out.” — Madam C. J. Walker
6. “I want the great masses of my people to take a greater pride in their personal appearance and to give their hair proper attention.” — Madam C. J. Walker
7. “Keep in mind that you have something that the person standing before you really needs, imagine yourself a missionary and convert him.” — Madam C. J. Walker
8. “I am not merely satisfied in making money for myself, for I am endeavoring to provide employment for hundreds of women of my race.” — Madam C. J. Walker
9. “You might say that I was the first and caused others to awaken to the sense of their duty in helping deserving causes for the benefit of the race.” — Madam C. J. Walker
10. “I want you to understand that your first duty is to humanity. I want others to look at us and see that we care not just about ourselves but about others.” — Madam C. J. Walker

Famous Quotes From Madam C.J. Walker

1. “America doesn’t respect anything but money. What our people need is a few millionaires.” — Madam C. J. Walker
2. “Britain has invented a new missile. It’s called the civil servant – it doesn’t work and it can’t be fired.” — Madam C. J. Walker
3. “I had to make my own living and my own opportunity. But I made it! Don’t sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them.” — Madam C. J. Walker
4. “One night I had a dream, and in that dream a big black man appeared to me and told me what to mix up for my hair. I made up my mind I would begin to sell it.” — Madam C. J. Walker
5. “This is the greatest country under the sun. But we must not let our love of country, our patriotic loyalty, cause us to abate one whit in our protest against wrong and injustice.” — Madam C. J. Walker
6. “I had to go down and dignify this work, so much so that many of the best women of our race are now engaged in this line of business, and many of them are now in my employ.” — Madam C. J. Walker
7. “There is no royal flower strewn path to success. And if there is, I have not found it, for whatever success I have attained has been the result of much hard work and many sleepless nights.” — Madam C. J. Walker
8. “My object in life is not simply to make money for myself or to spend it on myself in dressing or running around in an automobile, but I love to use a part of what I make in trying to help others.” — Madam C. J. Walker
9. “Girls and women of our race must not be afraid to take hold of business endeavor and, by patient industry, close economy, determined effort, and close application to business, wring success out of a number of business opportunities that lie at their doors.” — Madam C. J. Walker
10. “I am a woman who came from the cotton fields of the South. From there I was promoted to the washtub. From there I was promoted to the cook kitchen. And from there I promoted myself into the business of manufacturing hair goods and preparations… I have built my own factory on my own ground.” — Madam C. J. Walker

More Madam C. J. Walker Quotes And Sayings

1. “I want to live to help my race.” – Madam C.J. Walker
2. “One can slide between poor and rich.” – Madam C. J. Walker
3. “I had little or no opportunity when I started out in life.” – Madam C.J. Walker
4. “Hair is power. You can’t imagine what it is like to lose it.” — Madam C. J. Walker
5. “I refuse to be labeled immoral merely because I am godless.” — Madam C. J. Walker
6. “I have always held myself out as a hair culturist. I grow hair.” —  Madam C. J. Walker
7. “Love’s language is imprecise, fits more like mittens than gloves.” – Madam C.J. Walker
8. “Having a good article for the market is one thing, putting it properly before the public is another.” – Madam C. J. Walker
9. “Everybody told me I was making a mistake by going into this business, but I know how to grow hair as well as I know how to grow cotton.” – Madam C. J. Walker
10. “I have built my own factory on my own ground, 38 by 208 feet. I employ in that factory seven people, including a bookkeeper, a stenographer, a cook and a housegirl.” – Madam C. J. Walker

Conclusion

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