“Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

God has always given me the strength to say what is right.

I talked and talked of everything I know about the white man’s inhuman treatment of the Negro.

I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free, so other people would be also free.

You cannot always control the powers-that-be. You just have to have faith and stand by the things you believe in.

One person can change the world.

When I see the leadership roles black women are taking today I am very encouraged.

My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work.

I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.

Many whites, even white Southerners told me that even though it may have seemed like the blacks were being freed (by my actions) they felt more free and at ease themselves. They thought that my action didn’t just free blacks but them, too.

There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take. The line between reason and madness grows thinner.

I will always work for human rights for all people.

Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.

There is no future without education.

When people made up their minds that they wanted to be free and took action, then there was a change.

I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated. I was not going back.

If we wish to free ourselves from enslavement, we must choose freedom and the responsibility this entails.

You don’t fight fire with fire. You fight fire with water. We’re gonna fight racism with solidarity. We’re not gonna fight capitalism with Black capitalism. We’re gonna fight capitalism with socialism. Socialism is the people. If you’re afraid of socialism, you’re afraid of yourself.

Get busy livin’ or get busy dyin’.

It is freedom that allows ordinary people to do extraordinary things.

How do we change the world? One random act of kindness at a time.

Every story is us.

Sadness is silent, it is yours. It is coming because you are alone. It is giving you a chance to go deeper into your aloneness.

The easiest thing to be in the world is you. The most difficult thing to be is what other people want you to be. Don’t let them put you in that position.