“Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other.”

I am an organizer, not a union leader. A good organizer has to work hard and long. There are no shortcuts. You just keep talking to people, working with them, sharing, exchanging and they come along.

What I do shows people what kind of person I am.

When workers fall back on violence, they are lost. Oh, they might win some of their demands and might end a strike a little earlier, but they give up their imagination, their creativity, their will to work hard and to suffer for what they believe is right.

A symbol is an important thing. That is why we chose an Aztec eagle. It gives pride. When people see it they know it means dignity.

In 1968, I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry, and unhappy like we do.

True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire.

We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.

If we are full of hatred, we can’t really do our work. Hatred saps all that strength and energy we need to plan.

When a man or woman, young, or old, takes a place on the picket line for even a day or two, he will never be the same again.

In some cases non-violence requires more militancy than violence.

I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry and unhappy like we do. I feel very deeply about vegetarianism and the animal kingdom.

Being of service is not enough. You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return.

Organizing is an educational process. The best educational process in the union is the picket line and the boycott. You learn about life.

To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is a great capacity to dream; the second is persistence.

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.

We’ll organize workers in this movement as long as we’re willing to sacrifice. The moment we stop sacrificing, we stop organizing.

History is a people’s memory, and without a memory, man is demoted to the lower animals.

I enjoy racing historic motorcars from the ’50s and ’60s.

The only way we’ll get freedom for ourselves is to identify ourselves with every oppressed people in the world.

Poetry is nearer to vital truth than history.

History doesn’t repeat itself, but it does rhyme.

I feel a moral obligation to speak out at this key moment in human history – it is a moment for action.

When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won.

Revolutions are the locomotives of history.