Top 92 Quotes & Sayings by Rosa Parks

I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take... The line between reason and madness grows thinner.

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.

I have been refused entrance on the buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter. That was the custom if the bus was crowded up to the point where the white passengers would start occupying.

I have never been what you would call just an integrationist. I know I've been called that... Integrating that bus wouldn't mean more equality. Even when there was segregation, there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us.

Let us look at Jim Crow for the criminal he is and what he has done to one life multiplied millions of times over these United States and the world. He walks us on a tightrope from birth.

People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically... No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.

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

Why do you all push us around?

God has always given me the strength to say what is right.

As far back as I can remember, I knew there was something wrong with our way of life when people could be mistreated because of the color of their skin.

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

The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute accepts people of any race. We don't discriminate against anyone. We teach people to reach their highest potential. I set examples by the way I lead my life.

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.

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.

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

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

I talked and talked of everything I know about the white man's inhuman treatment of the Negro.

I don't think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can't force them to think that way.

In it not easy to remain rational and normal mentally in such a setting where, even in our airport in Montgomery, there is a white waiting room... There are restroom facilities for white ladies and colored women, white men and colored men. We stand outside after being served at the same ticket counter instead of sitting on the inside.

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.

Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all you were doing was acting like a normal human being instead of cringing.

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

You spend your whole lifetime in your occupation, actually making life clever, easy and convenient for white people. But when you have to get transportation home, you are denied an equal accommodation. Our existence was for the white man's comfort and well-being; we had to accept being deprived of just being human.

I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child. The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages.

Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restriction of Jim Crow laws.

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

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

I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day.

If I can sit down for freedom, you can stand up for children.

I believe there is only one race - the human race.

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

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

People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

One person can change the world.

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

I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.

It is better to protest than to accept injustice.

If you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach. If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble, and trusted, this is recognized by others.

I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.

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.

There is no future without education.

Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today's mighty oak is yesterday's nut that held its ground.

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.

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.

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.

I learned to put my trust in God and to see Him as my strength. Long ago I set my mind to be a free person and not to give in to fear. I always felt that it was my right to defend myself if I could. I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

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 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.

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

It takes more than one person to bring about peace - it takes all of us.

When people made up their minds that they wanted to be free and took action, then there was a change.