"There will be those who will tell you that you can't make it because of how you look, because of the way you talk. We all have heard that - I almost listened."
"You don't ever earn a right to stop doing anything if you feel there is an obligation to move in terms of public service."
Source: Then & Now: Douglas Wilder. www.cnn.com. June 19, 2005.
About the author
Douglas Wilder
Politician
Douglas Wilder is notable for being the first elected African American governor in the U.S., known for his advocacy for social justice and leadership.
All quotes by Douglas Wilder →Same author
More quotes by Douglas Wilder
"Slavery is nothing to joke about! And the history of this nation's [the USA's] involvement with slavery is nothing to pass off in a joke."
"What is blackness? Is it the way you talk? Do you got to say, 'Dey this, dey dat.' Or the way you dress? Or is it the forgiving of certain things? What is black enough?"
"Government or politics in America today is big business. Everybody makes money involving themselves in one way or the other, whether it's pollsters, whether they are policy wonks, whether they are pundits, whether they are those who believe that they must call it as they see it and then to be fair about it."
"Suppose something would happen to the president, who would be in charge? The Vice President. Joe Biden? You have got to be kidding today when you say the Taliban's not our enemy."
"In the class that I teach at one University, I stress that my one-word definition of politics is money. You can't name a subject matter that money doesn't touch."