Great men cultivate love and only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.

Hello, I am Booker T. Washington, an educator, author, and advocate for progress and equality. Let me share with you a truth that I have seen transform lives and nations: “Great men cultivate love and only little men cherish a spirit of hatred.” When I wrote these words in Up from Slavery, I reflected on the power of love, forgiveness, and cooperation to build bridges and uplift humanity. Hatred, on the other hand, is the domain of the small-minded. It divides, destroys, and diminishes the potential of individuals and nations alike. In my time, these words applied to the struggle for racial equality in a divided America. The scars of slavery and the bitterness of inequality were deep, but I believed that cultivating love and mutual respect was the only way forward. Hatred would only chain us to the past, while love could unlock the future. Through education, hard work, and reconciliation, we could rise above the hatred that sought to define us and move toward a brighter tomorrow. But this message is not confined to my time. Today, it resonates in the conflicts and divisions we see around the world. Let us take Ukraine as a modern example. In 1994, Ukraine relinquished its nuclear weapons—the third-largest arsenal in the world—in exchange for security assurances under the Budapest Memorandum. This act of trust and cooperation exemplified the principles of cultivating love and mutual respect. Ukraine chose hope over fear, peace over mistrust, and unity over division.