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Rooted in tenets of brotherhood, scholarship and service, Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity, was founded at Howard University in Washington, D.C. on January 9, 1914. The founders of the organization—A. Langston Taylor, Leonard F. Morse, and Charles I. Brown—sought to build a fraternity that honed in on acquiring skills that would add value to the greater Black community through public service. Consistently positioning themselves as changemakers, members of Phi Beta Sigma are leaders who always aim to improve themselves and those around them.
Celebrating their 109 years of dedication to the Black community, here are inspirational quotes from notable members of this exemplary fraternity.
Harry Belafonte
“Art in its highest form is art that serves and instructs society and human development.”
– Harry Belafonte
Al Roker
“Always be yourself. At the end of the day, that’s all you’ve really got; when you strip everything down, that’s all you’ve got, so always be yourself.”
– Al Roker
George Washington Carver
“Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater. Keep your thoughts free from hate, and you need have no fear from those who hate you.”
– George Washington Carver
John Lewis
“Every generation leaves behind a legacy. What that legacy will be is determined by the people of that generation. What legacy do you want to leave behind?”
– John Lewis
Kwame Nkrumah
“Thought without practice is empty; and action without thought is blind.”
– Kwame Nkrumah
A. Philip Randolph
“Justice is never given; it is exacted and the struggle must be continuous for freedom is never a final fact, but a continuing evolving process to higher and higher levels of human, social, economic, political and religious relationship.”
– A. Philip Randolph