Top 229 Quotes & Sayings by John Lewis

Explore popular quotes and sayings by an American politician John Lewis.

Last updated on November 21, 2024.

John Robert Lewis was an American politician and civil rights activist who served in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia's 5th congressional district from 1987 until his death in 2020. He participated in the 1960 Nashville sit-ins, the Freedom Rides, was the chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) from 1963 to 1966, and was one of the "Big Six" leaders of groups who organized the 1963 March on Washington. Fulfilling many key roles in the civil rights movement and its actions to end legalized racial segregation in the United States, in 1965 Lewis led the first of three Selma to Montgomery marches across the Edmund Pettus Bridge where, in an incident which became known as Bloody Sunday, state troopers and police attacked Lewis and the other marchers.

American - Politician | Born: February 21, 1940

Source: Wikipedia

We should be creative, and we should accommodate the needs of every community to open up the democratic process. We should make it easy and accessible for every citizen to participate.

John Lewis

MLK, Jr. taught me how to say no to segregation, and I can hear him saying now... when you straighten up your back, no man can ride you. He said stand up straight and say no to racial discrimination.

John Lewis

You have to tell the whole truth, the good and the bad, maybe some things that are uncomfortable for some people.

John Lewis

Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.

John Lewis

If you're not hopeful and optimistic, then you just give up. You have to take the long hard look and just believe that if you're consistent, you will succeed.

John Lewis

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.

John Lewis

I'm very hopeful. I am very optimistic about the future.

John Lewis

Rosa Parks inspired me to find a way to get in the way, to get in trouble... good trouble, necessary trouble.

John Lewis

You have to go with your gut sometimes, and how you feel.

John Lewis

Never become bitter, and in the process, be happy and just go for it.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division.

John Lewis

If it hadn't been for that march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.

John Lewis

My parents told me in the very beginning as a young child when I raised the question about segregation and racial discrimination, they told me not to get in the way, not to get in trouble, not to make any noise.

John Lewis

You have to be optimistic in order to continue to move forward.

John Lewis

The vote is precious. It's almost sacred, so go out and vote like you never voted before.

John Lewis

We must bring the issue of mental illness out into the sunlight, out of the shadow, out of the closet, deal with it, treat people, have centers where people can get the necessary help.

John Lewis

When growing up, I saw segregation. I saw racial discrimination. I saw those signs that said white men, colored men. White women, colored women. White waiting. And I didn't like it.

John Lewis

We need comprehensive immigration reform. Dr. King wouldn't be pleased at all to know that there are millions of people living in the shadow, living in fear in places like Georgia and Alabama.

John Lewis

Without prayer, without faith in the Almighty, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.

John Lewis

We are one people; we are only family. And when we finally accept these truths, then we will be able to fulfill Dr. King's dream to build a beloved community, a nation, and a world at peace with itself.

John Lewis

To make it hard, to make it difficult almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not in keeping with the democratic process.

John Lewis

Too many of us still believe our differences define us.

John Lewis

What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.

John Lewis

We all live in the same house, we all must be part of the effort to hold down our little house. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just... do something about it. Say something. Have the courage. Have the backbone. Get in the way. Walk with the wind. It's all going to work out.

John Lewis

You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way... to get in the way.

John Lewis

I wanted young people to know that I was just a typical child.

John Lewis

There's nothing wrong with a little agitation for what's right or what's fair.

John Lewis

We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house... and through books, through information, we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For hate is too heavy a burden to bear.

John Lewis

Without the Sisters of St. Joseph, I might not be standing here.

John Lewis

We need someone who is going to stand up, speak up, and speak out for the people who need help, for the people who have been discriminated against.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

Following the teaching of Gandhi and Thoreau, Dr. King, it set me on a path. And I never looked back.

John Lewis

I say to people today, 'You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.'

John Lewis

We must continue to go forward as one people, as brothers and sisters.

John Lewis

The party of Kennedy is also the party of Eastland. The party of Javits is also the party of Goldwater.

John Lewis

You have to be persistent.

John Lewis

Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be - you get out and push and you pull and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of good will in power to act.

John Lewis

The March on Washington was a March for Jobs and Freedom. There are still too many people who are unemployed or underemployed in America - they're black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American.

John Lewis

We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jails over and over again. And then you holler, 'Be patient.' How long can we be patient?

John Lewis

Before we went on any protest, whether it was sit-ins or the freedom rides or any march, we prepared ourselves, and we were disciplined. We were committed to the way of peace - the way of non-violence - the way of love - the way of life as the way of living.

John Lewis

The action of Rosa Parks, the words and leadership of Dr. King inspired me. I was deeply inspired. I wanted to do something.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

Be hopeful. Be optimistic. Never lose that sense of hope.

John Lewis

Never give up. Never give in. Never become hostile... Hate is too big a burden to bear.

John Lewis

We must be headlights and not taillights.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

I really believe that all of us, as Americans... we all need to be treated like fellow human beings.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

I believe that you see something that you want to get done, you cannot give up, and you cannot give in.

John Lewis

Sometimes I feel like crying, tears of happiness, tears of joy, to see the distance we've come and the progress we've made.

John Lewis

If you ask me whether the election of Barack Obama is the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream, I say, 'No, it's just a down payment.'

John Lewis

Too many people struggled, suffered, and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote.

John Lewis

The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.

John Lewis

I believe race is too heavy a burden to carry into the 21st century. It's time to lay it down. We all came here in different ships, but now we're all in the same boat.

John Lewis

When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

The vote controls everything that you do.

John Lewis

I don't understand it, how President Johnson can send troops to Vietnam and cannot send troops to Selma, Alabama, to protect people whose only desire is to register to vote.

John Lewis

Some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process.

John Lewis

Top 229 Quotes & Sayings by John Lewis

Related Authors