I had felt for a long time, that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.

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.

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

Each person must live their life as a model for others.

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

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

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.