“How few of us In all the world's great, ceaseless struggling strife, Go to our work with gladsome, buoyant step, And love it for its sake, whate'er it be.”

Reflecting on the rarity of finding joy in one's labour · Essay or column (commonly attributed)

• Joy
• Meaning
• Work

“Willow trees are kind, Dear God. They will not bear a body on their limbs.”

A poignant reflection on the mercy found in nature · Short story or column (commonly attributed)

• Death
• Mercy
• Nature

“Such a man was Livingstone, not afraid to be meek in order to be great; not afraid to fear God and work hard; not ashamed to stoop in order that he might raise others to his high estate.”

Praising Livingstone's humility and dedication to uplifting others · Essay or speech (commonly attributed)

• Greatness
• Humility
• Service

“The life of service; the life of unselfish giving — this must Livingstone's life mean to us.”

Holding up David Livingstone as a model of altruism · Essay or speech (commonly attributed)

• Generosity
• Inspiration
• Service

“The few lighter persons in the community drew together; we were literally thrown upon each other, whether we liked or not.”

Describing the social isolation of mixed-race individuals · Essay, 'Brass Ankles Speaks'

• Community
• Identity
• Race

“The race is here faced with a startling fact. Our birth rate is declining; our infant mortality is increasing.”

Addressing demographic concerns within the African American community · Essay, 'Woman's Most Serious Problem'

• Health
• Race
• Society

“Blue. My God! I'm so blue that if I were a dog, I'd sit on my haunches and howl and howl and howl.”

A vivid, almost comic, expression of overwhelming sadness · Diary or letter (commonly attributed)

• Despair
• Emotion
• Sadness

“Nothing will do me any good unless I learn to control this body of mine.”

Acknowledging the importance of self-discipline and physical well-being · Diary (commonly attributed)

• Discipline
• Health
• Self

“Didacticism is the death of art.”

A defence of art for its own sake against moralising · Essay or column (commonly attributed)

• Art
• Creativity
• Morality

“The rainbow is elusive, and its colors but the illumination of tears.”

Finding beauty and hope intertwined with sorrow · Essay or column (commonly attributed)

• Beauty
• Hope
• Sorrow

“I am profoundly in the D's – discouraged, depressed, disheartened, disgusted.”

A frank expression of deep emotional weariness · Diary (commonly attributed)

• Despair
• Emotion
• Sadness

“Picturesqueness is a lost art. We may expect at anytime to hear that a collar ad is blazing its electric lights atop of the largest pyramid.”

Lamenting the erosion of beauty and romance by modern commerce · Essay or column (commonly attributed)

• Art
• Beauty
• Modernity

“It's punishment to be compelled to do what one doesn't wish.”

A simple observation on the nature of obligation and freedom · Conversation or diary (commonly attributed)

• Choice
• Duty
• Freedom

“In every race, in every nation, and in every clime in every period of history there is always an eager-eyed group of youthful patriots who seriously set themselves to right the wrongs done to their race or nation or art or self-expression.”

Reflecting on the perennial presence of youthful idealism and reform · Essay or column (commonly attributed)

• Change
• Idealism
• Youth

“Every new fad or fashion at once has its denouncers from the pulpit, platform, professor's chair.”

Observing society's quickness to criticise novelty · Essay or column (commonly attributed)

• Convention
• Criticism
• Society

“The Negro woman is the most neglected woman in the world.”

A forceful observation on the racial and gendered marginalisation of Black women · Essay

• Truth
• War