"If you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have a moral obligation to do something about it."
"Many of us in Nashville accepted nonviolence as a way of life, a way of living, not simply as a technique or a tactic."
About the author
John Lewis
Politician
John Lewis was a prominent civil rights leader and U.S. Congressman known for his advocacy for justice and nonviolent protest.
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More quotes by John Lewis
"You cannot be afraid to speak up and speak out for what you believe. You have to have courage, raw courage."
"Our struggle is a struggle to redeem the soul of America. It's not a struggle that lasts for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. It is the struggle of a lifetime, more than one lifetime."
"Young people can understand, and must understand, that we had success, we had failures, but we never gave up. We never gave in. We never became bitter. We didn't hate. We continued to press on. And that's what we're saying: There are some ups, there are some downs, and when you're not down, you must have the capacity and the ability to get up and keep going."
"We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us."
"I thought I was going to die a few times. On the Freedom Ride in the year 1961, when I was beaten at the Greyhound bus station in Montgomery, I thought I was going to die. On March 7th, 1965, when I was hit in the head with a night stick by a State Trooper at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge, I thought I was going to die. I thought I saw death, but nothing can make me question the philosophy of nonviolence."