African American Quotes

I have written a song that says: If you ever lose someone dear to you, never say the words, "They're gone," and they'll come back.

The thing to do is to get organized; keep separated and you will be exploited, you will be robbed, you will be killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you.

If you can be the best, then why not try to be the best?

We have to talk about liberating minds as well as liberating society.

No individual has any right to come into the world and go out of it without leaving behind him distinct and legitimate reasons for having passed through it.

There must always be a remedy for wrong and injustice if we only know how to find it.

Never wound a snake; kill it.

Religion without humanity is very poor human stuff.

You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.

It is extremely rough to follow through with my goals, but I felt a responsibility to show the world what the African Americans are facing through this rough patch.

We have a wonderful history behind us. ... If you are unable to demonstrate to the world that you have this record, the world will say to you, 'You are not worthy to enjoy the blessings of democracy or anything else'.

If a race has no history, if it has no worthwhile tradition, it becomes a negligible factor in the thought of the world, and it stands in danger of being exterminated.

I saw that the camera could be a weapon against poverty, against racism, against all sorts of social wrongs. I knew at that point I had to have a camera.

It is better to be prepared for an opportunity and not have one than to have an opportunity and not be prepared.

Somebody once said we never know what is enough until we know what's more than enough.

If we have the courage and tenacity of our forebears, who stood firmly like a rock against the lash of slavery, we shall find a way to do for our day what they did for theirs.

One of the things that has to be faced is the process of waiting to change the system, how much we have got to do to find out who we are, where we have come from and where we are going.

Don't let the same dog bite you twice.

I early conceived a liking for, and sought every opportunity to relieve the sufferings of others.

The colour of the skin is in no way connected with strength of the mind or intellectual powers.

Ain't no sense worryin' about the things you got control over, 'cause if you got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'. And ain't no sense worryin' about the things you don't got control over, 'cause if you don't got control over 'em, ain't no sense worryin'.

You just need to be a flea against injustice. Enough committed fleas biting strategically can make even the biggest dog uncomfortable and transform even the biggest nation.

I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner.

There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.

Differences can be a strength.

What you do to-day that is worthwhile, inspires others to act at some future time.

Don't take yourself too seriously. Know when to laugh at yourself, and find a way to laugh at obstacles that inevitably present themselves.

Living consciously involves being genuine; it involves listening and responding to others honestly and openly; it involves being in the moment.

What they call you is one thing. What you answer to is something else.

The possible has been tried and failed. Now it's time to try the impossible.

There are more African Americans under correctional control, in prison or jail, on probation or parole, than were enslaved in 1850 a decade before the civil war began.

Stop using the word 'Negro.' The word is a misnomer from every point of view. It does not represent a country or anything else ... I am an African-American.

When I was born, I was colored. I soon became a Negro. Not long after that I was black. Most recently I was African-American. It seems we're on a roll here. But I am still first and foremost in search of freedom.

I have this ability to find this hidden talent in people that sometimes even they didn't know they had.

Nothing came easy. I was just born with a need to explore every part of my mind. And with long searching and hard work, I became devoted to my restlessness.

I knew well that the only way I could get that door open was to knock it down; because I knocked all of them down.

Whether you come from a council estate or a country estate, your success will be determined by your own confidence and fortitude.

The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible

Your wealth can be stolen, but the precious riches buried deep in your soul cannot.

They throw the ball, I hit it. They hit the ball, I catch it.

One of the greatest pleasures of my life has been that I have never stopped learning about Good Cooking and Good Food

Black painters have done all kinds of work. It's the treatment of forms they engage in-that's what determines the value of the work, not whether you call them a black artist or not.

There's a category for me. I like to be referred to as a good singer of good songs in good taste.

I believe in individuality, that everybody is special, and it's up to them to find that quality and let it live.

Presumption should never make us neglect that which appears easy to us, nor despair make us lose courage at the sight of difficulties.

A goal without a plan is a wish.

Regardless of what you play, the biggest thing is keeping the feel going.

It appears that my worst fears have been realised: we have made progress in everything yet nothing has changed.

I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.

When you hear music, after it's over, it's gone, in the air. You can never capture it again.