John Lewis
Many young people, many children, are being abused, being put down, being bullied because of their sexual orientation.
We need someone who will stand up and speak up and speak out for the people who need help, for people who are being discriminated against. And it doesn't matter whether they are black or white, Latino, Asian or Native American, whether they are straight or gay, Muslim, Christian, or Jews.
I'm very hopeful. I am very optimistic about the future.
The documented incidences of voter fraud are very rare, yet throughout the country, forces have mobilized in over 30 states to stop it. These efforts are very partisan.
I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble.
There are still forces in America that want to divide us along racial lines, religious lines, sex, class. But we've come too far; we've made too much progress to stop or to pull back. We must go forward. And I believe we will get there.
You have to be optimistic in order to continue to move forward.
I remember back in the 1960s - late '50s, really - reading a comic book called 'Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story.' Fourteen pages. It sold for 10 cents. And this little book inspired me to attend non-violence workshops, to study about Gandhi, about Thoreau, to study Martin Luther King, Jr., to study civil disobedience.
In 1965, the attempted march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7 was planned to dramatize to the state of Alabama and to the nation that people of color wanted to register to vote.
1963, because of the sense of moral authority that the civil rights movement had, we were able to get people to respond, because of the quality of our demand and our sense of moral authority.
I couldn't say no to A. Philip Randolph and no to Martin Luther King, Jr. These two men, I loved them, I admired them, and they were my heroes.
If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it.Collection: Moral
You cannot be afraid to speak up and speak out for what you believe. You have to have courage, raw courage.Collection: Believe
Our struggle is a struggle to redeem the soul of America. It's not a struggle that lasts for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. It is the struggle of a lifetime, more than one lifetime.Collection: Struggle
Young people can understand, and must understand, that we had success, we had failures, but we never gave up. We never gave in. We never became bitter. We didn't hate. We continued to press on. And that's what we're saying: There are some ups, there are some downs, and when you're not down, you must have the capacity and the ability to get up and keep going.Collection: Hate
We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.Collection: May
I say from time to time that the vote is precious. It's almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool or instrument that we have in a democratic society. And we must use it.Collection: Powerful
I met Rosa Parks when I was 17. I met Dr. [Martin Luther] King when I was 18. These two individuals inspired me to find a way to get in the way, to get in trouble. So I got in good trouble, necessary trouble.Collection: Kings
It is my hope that people today will see that, in another time, in another period, when we saw the need for people to speak up, to organize, to mobilize, and to do something about injustice, we came together.Collection: People
If you're not hopeful and optimistic, then you just give up. You have to take that long hard look and just believe that if your consistent, you will succeedCollection: Giving Up
I thought I was going to die a few times. On the Freedom Ride in the year 1961, when I was beaten at the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery, I thought I was going to die. On March 7th, 1965, when I was hit in the head with a night stick by a State Trooper at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death, but nothing can make me question the philosophy of nonviolence.Collection: Philosophy
You cannot give up - you have to be persistent and keep pushing, and press on.Collection: Giving Up
When people tell me nothing has changed, I say come walk in my shoes and I will show you change.Collection: Change
We have come a long way in America because of Martin Luther King, Jr. He led a disciplined, nonviolent revolution under the rule of law, a revolution of values, a revolution of ideas. We've come a long way, but we still have a distance to go before all of our citizens embrace the idea of a truly interracial democracy, what I like to call the Beloved Community, a nation at peace with itself.Collection: Kings
Don`t give up! Don`t give in! Keep the faith! And keep your eyes on the prize!Collection: Giving Up
We built a coalition of conscience, and that we can do it again, and we can go forward, and help redeem the soul of America.Collection: America
You have to have the capacity and the ability to take what people did, and how they did it, and forgive them and move on.Collection: Moving
I truly believe that one day we will get there, we will arrive. And if we do it right in America, maybe, just maybe, we can serve as a model for the rest of the world.Collection: Believe
Be prepared to organize nonviolent workshops - a teach-in around what is happening in America today. Organize your teachers and schoolmates, and be prepared to engage in some action.Collection: Teacher
The reward for playing jazz is playing jazz.Collection: Music
We never gave up. We didn't get lost in a sea of despair. We kept the faith. We kept pushing and pulling. We kept marching. And we made some progress.Collection: Sea
Nonviolence is one of those immutable principles that we cannot and must not deviate from.Collection: Principles
But you have to have hope. You have to be optimistic in order to continue to move forward.Collection: Moving
Today, we have come a distance. We have made a lot of progress. That cannot be denied. You cannot dispute the fact that our country is so different from 50 years ago. But we still have problems. There are too many people that have been left out and left behind, and they are African American, they are White, Latino, Asian American, and Native American.Collection: Country
I think Donald Trump is dividing the American people. He is not good for America. It's not good for our standing in the rest of the world. To divide people based on race, a color, a religion, a sexual orientation, it's just ... it's just wrong.Collection: Thinking
In spite of all of the things, the issues, that we may be confronting today, I'm very hopeful, very optimistic about the future.Collection: Optimistic
I think it is an imperfect arms control agreement. It's not a friendship treaty. But when America gives her word, we have to live up to it and work with our allies.Collection: Thinking
DNI director [James] Clapper said as much many, many times, that there is no evidence that any outcome of the election was changed.Collection: Directors
I can tell just from working closely for the last year an half with president-elect [Donald Trump] and even over the course of the last six weeks, he has no problem with differing opinions in a room.Collection: Years
I think, in fact, I think President [Barack] Obama could step up.Collection: Thinking
I think the administration can do a lot of good by telling folks that are on their side of the aisle, look, we may have lost the election on the Democrat side, but it's time to come together.Collection: Thinking
President-elect [Donald] Trump won 30 of 50 states, more counties since Ronald Reagan.Collection: President
This man [ Donald Trump] won in an electoral landslide.Collection: Men
To question the legitimacy of the next United States president, you know, and you're worried about a tweet that says, hey, why don't you get back to work instead of questioning my legitimacy? Too bad.Collection: President
Donald Trump has made it clear that certainly over the last few years that President [Barack] Obama was born in Hawaii.Collection: Years
John Lewis stood up and said in an interview that Donald Trump was not a legitimate president. It's insanity.Collection: Insanity
I think all three of those men [James Mattis, Mike Pompeo and Rex Tillerson] that you just mentioned, depending on what deal was struck with Russia, depending on what terms the deal would have and what incremental steps we would have to take and measurements that we would have to take with potentially Russia in a deal, some of those positions could change, and some of President-elect Donald Trump's positions could change depending on what deal could be struck.Collection: Men
For a person [like John Lewis] that is a champion of voter rights to question whether or not Donald Trump legitimately won an election or not is an incredible position to take five days before an inauguration.Collection: Rights
Nobody thinks that Obamacare is perfect. It has its problems.Collection: Thinking