Would it be possible for you to be in Cambridge on that day?
Believe me, with great regard, Very truly yours, Charles W.Eliot.
This was a recognition that had never in the slightest manner entered into my mind, and it was hard for me to realize that I was to be honoured by a degree from the oldest and most renowned university in America.

As I sat upon my veranda, with this letter in my hand, tears came into my eyes.

My whole former life--my life as a slave on the plantation, my work in the coal-mine, the times when I was without food and clothing, when I made my bed under a sidewalk, my struggles for an education, the trying days I had had at Tuskegee, days when I did not know where to turn for a dollar to continue the work there, the ostracism and sometimes oppression of my race,--all this passed before me and nearly overcame me.
I had never sought or cared for what the world calls fame.

I have always looked upon fame as something to be used in accomplishing good.

I have often said to my friends that if I can use whatever prominence may have come to me as an instrument with which to do good, I am content to have it.