Civil Rights Quotes

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  Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Inspirational, Life

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.67, Beacon Press

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  It was we, the people; not we, the white male citizens; nor yet we, the male citizens; but we, the whole people, who formed the Union.... Men, their rights and nothing more; women, their rights and nothing less

  Susan B. Anthony

  Strong Women, Equality, White

  Motto of The Revolution (newspaper), 8 Jan. 1868

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• Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Courage, Integrity

  549 Copy quote
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  We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Meaningful

  233 Copy quote

• In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Friendship, Wisdom, Kings

  "The Trumpet of Conscience". Martin Luther King, Jr.'s steeler lecture at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church in Montgomery, Alabama, November 17, 1957.

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  The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Life, Motivational

  Strength to Love (1963) ch. 3

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• Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Freedom, 4th Of July, Direct Action

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

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• The only real prison is fear, and the only real freedom is freedom from fear

  Aung San Suu Kyi

  Inspirational, Motivational, Peace

  64 Copy quote

• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Wisdom, Peace, Kings

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

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• We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Motivational, Respect

  Speech at St. Louis, 22 Mar. 1964, in St Louis Post-Dispatch 23 Mar. 1964

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• If we don't believe in free expression for people we despise, we don't believe in it at all.

  Noam Chomsky

  Inspirational, Relationship, Freedom

  Interview with John Pilger on BBC's "The Late Show", November 25, 1992.

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• Give to every human being every right that you claim for yourself.

  Robert Green Ingersoll

  Respect, Rights, Giving

  "The Works of Robert G. Ingersoll", Vol VII, 2009.

  79 Copy quote

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• Democracy is not the law of the majority but the protection of the minority.

  Albert Camus

  Law, Democracy, Majority

  55 Copy quote

• Knowing what must be done does away with fear.

  Rosa Parks

  Inspiring, Strong Women, Fear

  Rosa Parks, Gregory J. Reed (1994). “Quiet Strength: The Faith, the Hope, and the Heart of a Woman who Changed a Nation”, Zondervan

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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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• When I wrote the song, The Way It Is, I wanted to move people to take a stand on civil rights in this country.

  Bruce Hornsby

  Country, Song, Hippie

  7 Copy quote

• When I started graduate school I was interested in the culture of the Civil Rights Movement.

  Bernice Johnson Reagon

  School, Rights, Culture

  11 Copy quote

• I maintain that every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people.

  Stokely Carmichael

  Country, Hippie, Rights

  Black Power Address at UC Berkeley, delivered October 1966, Berkeley, CA

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• We've talked more about civil rights after the Civil Rights Act of 1964 than we talked about it before 1964.

  Clarence Thomas

  Rights, Civil Rights Act Of 1964, Civil Rights Act

  7 Copy quote
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  Among the natural rights of the colonists are these: First a right to life, secondly to liberty, and thirdly to property; together with the right to defend them in the best manner they can.

  Samuel Adams

  Rights, Liberty, Together

  Samuel Adams (1946). “Samuel Adams: selections from his writings”

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• The Court today completes the process of converting Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 from a guarantee that race or sex will not be the basis for often will.

  Antonin Scalia

  Sex, Hippie, Rights

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• I believe public education is the new civil rights battle and I support charter schools.

  Andrew Cuomo

  Believe, School, Rights

  72 Copy quote

• As a civil rights leader, Mrs. King's vision of racial peace and nonviolent social change was a fortifying staple in advancing the civil rights movement.

  James T. Walsh

  Change, Kings, Rights

  7 Copy quote

• What drew me to both study and activism was the formative experience of the civil rights movement.

  David Price

  Hippie, Rights, Movement

  6 Copy quote

• The human rights community has focused very narrowly on political and civil rights for many decades, and with reason, but now we have to ask how can we broaden the view.

  Paul Farmer

  Rights, Views, Community

  6 Copy quote