Civil Rights Quotes - Page 4

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  Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Motivational, Change

  Atlanta Magazine, April 2008.

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• An unconditional right to say what one pleases about public affairs is what I consider to be the minimum guarantee of the First Amendment.

  Hugo Black

  Religious, Political, Firsts

  NewYork Times Co. v. Sullivan (concurring opinion) (1964)

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• Evil societies always kill their consciences.

  James L. Farmer, Jr.

  Evil, Conscience

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• This Civil Rights Act is a challenge to all of us to go to work in our communities and our states, in our homes and in our hearts, to eliminate the last vestiges of injustice in our beloved country. So tonight I urge every public official, every religious leader, every business and professional man, every working man, every housewife - I urge every American - to join in this effort to bring justice and hope to all our people, and to bring peace to our land.

  Lyndon B. Johnson

  Inspiring, Country, Religious

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• One individual can begin a movement that turns the tide of history. Martin Luther King in the civil rights movement, Mohandas Ganhi in India, Nelson Mandela in South Africa are examples of people standing up with courage and non-violence to bring about needed changes.

  Jack Canfield

  Inspirational, Kings, Rights

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• Thought that is silenced is always rebellious. Majorities, of course, are often mistaken. This is why the silencing of minorities is necessarily dangerous. Criticism and dissent are the indispensable antidote to major delusions.

  Alan Barth

  Atheism, Liberty, Criticism

  "The Loyalty of Free Men". Book by Alan Barth, 1951.

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• I am - Somebody. I may be poor, but I am - Somebody! I may be on welfare, but I am - Somebody! I may be uneducated, but I am - Somebody! I must be, I'm God's child. I must be respected and protected. I am black and I am beautiful! I am - Somebody! Soul Power!

  Jesse Jackson

  Beautiful, Children, Soul

  "Jesse Jackson: Civil Rights Leader and Politican". Book by Robert E. Jakoubek, Gloria Blakely, 2009.

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• Every advance in this half-century-Social Security, civil rights, Medicare, aid to education, one after another-came with the support and leadership of American Labor.

  Jimmy Carter

  Rights, Support, Presidential

  United States. President (1977-1981 : Carter), Jimmy Carter (1980). “Jimmy Carter”

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• I'm the world's original gradualist. I just think ninety-odd years is gradual enough.

  Thurgood Marshall

  Thinking, Years, World

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• Don't interfere with anything in the Constitution. That must be maintained, for it is the only safeguard of our liberties.

  Abraham Lincoln

  Veterans Day, Our Veterans, Us Veterans

  Abraham Lincoln, Mario Matthew Cuomo, G. S. Boritt (2004). “Lincoln on Democracy”, p.86, Fordham Univ Press

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• Restriction of free thought and free speech is the most dangerous of all subversions. It is the one un-American act that could most easily defeat us.

  William O. Douglas

  Teaching, Rights In America, Political Revolution

  "The One Un-American Act". William O. Douglas' speech to the Author's Guild Council in New York on receiving the 1951 Lauterbach Award, December 3, 1952.

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• Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Life, Marriage

  Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

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• The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time.

  Jackie Robinson

  Class, Issues, Democracy

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• Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry. It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death. It means the pain of watching your children grow up with clouds of inferiority in their mental skies. It means having their legs off, and then being condemned for being a cripple.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Children, Growing Up, Pain

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• I'm a supporter of gay rights. And not a closet supporter either. From the time I was a kid, I have never been able to understand attacks upon the gay community. There are so many qualities that make up a human being... by the time I get through with all the things that I really admire about people, what they do with their private parts is probably so low on the list that it is irrelevant.

  Paul Newman

  Inspiring, Kids, Gay

  Biography/Personal Quotes, www.imdb.com.

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• I am an American; free born and free bred, where I acknowledge no man as my superior, except for his own worth, or as my inferior, except for his own demerit.

  Theodore Roosevelt

  Patriotic, Equality, Men

  Theodore Roosevelt (2015). “Theodore Roosevelt on Bravery: Lessons from the Most Courageous Leader of the Twentieth Century”, p.39, Skyhorse Publishing, Inc.

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• Every segment of our population, and every individual, has a right to expect from his government a fair deal.

  Harry S. Truman

  Government, Population, Individual

  1945 Speech to Congress, 6 Sep.

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• The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Way, Causes, Problem

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

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• How could they say that my religion, Islam was a 'race hate' religion after all the plunder and enslavement and domination of my people by white Christians in the name of white supremacy?

  Muhammad Ali

  Christian, Freedom, Hate

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• I am the inferior of any man whose rights I trample underfoot.

  Horace Greeley

  Men, Rights, Feet

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• No experiment can be more interesting than that we are now trying, and which we trust will end in establishing the fact, that man may be governed by reason and truth. Our first object should therefore be, to leave open to him all the avenues to truth. The most effectual hitherto found, is the freedom of the press. It is, therefore, the first shut up by those who fear the investigation of their actions.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Men, Interesting, Freedom Of Speech

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.192, Rowman & Littlefield

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• The right to freedom of expression is justified first of all as the right of an individual purely in his capacity as an individual. It derives from the widely accepted premise of Western thought that the proper end of man is the realization of his character and potentialities as a human being.

  Thomas I. Emerson

  Character, Acceptance, Men

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• Whenever the people are well informed, they can be trusted with their own government; that whenever things get so far wrong as to attract their notice, they may be relied on to set them to rights.

  Thomas Jefferson

  Trust, Rights, Government

  Thomas Jefferson, Jerry Holmes (2002). “Thomas Jefferson: A Chronology of His Thoughts”, p.106, Rowman & Littlefield

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• Look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dream, Kings, Kids

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• That's what he was saying, the civil rights movement - judge me for my character, not how black my skin is, not how yellow my skin is, how short I am, how tall or fat or thin; It's by my character.

  Pam Grier

  Character, Yellow, Rights

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