“As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do.”

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.

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

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.

Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.

I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.

Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.

Black boys became criminalized. I was in constant dread for their lives, because they were targets everywhere. They still are.

Poverty is the parent of revolution and crime.

Don’t fear failure. Not failure, but low aim, is the crime. In great attempts it is glorious even to fail.

There are crimes of passion and crimes of logic. The boundary between them is not clearly defined.

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

Be not ashamed of mistakes and thus make them crimes.

A century from now it will no more occur to a normal person to mate with a person eugenically unfit than to marry a habitual criminal.

The unforgivable crime is soft hitting. Do not hit at all if it can be avoided, but never hit softly.