Rosa Parks Quotes

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.

I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be.

Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated.

I knew someone had to take the first step. So I made up my mind not to move.

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.

My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest…I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free... so other people would be also free.

I have spent over half my life teaching love and brotherhood, and I feel that it is better to continue to try to teach or live equality and love than it would be to have hatred or prejudice. Everyone living together in peace and harmony and love - that’s the goal that we seek, and I think that the more people there are who reach that state of mind, the better we will all be.

I am leaving this legacy to all of you...to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die - the dream of freedom and peace.

I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed. I had decided that I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen.

I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.

Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that.

What really matters is not whether we have problems, but how we go through them. We must keep going on to make it through whatever we are facing.

you must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.

There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still. As long as a child needs help, as long as people are not free, there will be work to do. As long as an elderly person is attacked or in need of support, there is work to do. As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do.

It is better to protest than to accept injustice.

People need to free their minds of racial prejudice and believe in equality for all and freedom regardless of race. It would be a good thing if all people were treated equally and justly and not be discriminated against because of race or religion or anything that makes them different from others.

Every day before supper and before we went to services on Sundays. My grandmother would read the Bible to me, and my grandfather would pray. We even had devotions before going to pick cotton in the fields. Prayer and the Bible, became a part of my everyday thoughts and beliefs. I learned to put my trust in God and to seek Him as my strength.

I'm tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.

If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with.

Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.

As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.

All I was trying to do was get home from work.

People have said over the years that the reason I did not give up my seat was because I was tired. I did not think of being physically tired. My feet were not hurting. I was tired in a different way. I was tired of seeing so many men treated as boys and not called by their proper names or titles. I was tired of seeing children and women mistreated and disrespected because of the color of their skin. I was tired of Jim Crow laws, of legally enforced racial segregation.

It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made a demand and I just didn't feel like obeying his demand. I was quite tired after spending a full day working.

I did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I had paid for. It was just time… there was opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner. I had not planned to get arrested. I had plenty to do without having to end up in jail. But when I had to face that decision, I didn't hesitate to do so because I felt that we had endured that too long. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became.

My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work.

I was ready to die but give my consent never. Never, never.

When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.

Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way.

Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.

There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took on more step, someone would come along to join me.

I did not get on the bus to get arrested. I got on the bus to go home.

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

I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart.

At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.

As long as there is unemployment, war, crime and all things that go to the infliction of man's inhumanity to man, regardless - there is much to be done, and people need to work together.

Victory or defeat? It is the slogan of all-powerful militarism in every belligerent nation. And yet, what can victory bring to the proletariat?

To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.

Without a vision the people perish, but without courage dreams die.

There is no future without education.

Racial pride and self-dignity were emphasized in my family and community.

Since I have always been a strong believer in God, I knew that He was with me, and only He could get me through that next step

I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.

An opportunity was being given to me to do what I had asked of others.

You cannot always control the powers-that-be. You just have to have faith and stand by the things you believe in.

I want to be treated like a human being.

I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day, but I don't think there is anything such as complete happiness. It pains me that there is still a lot of Klan activity and racism. I think when you say you're happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for. I haven't reached that stage yet.