"Struggle is strengthening. Battling with evil gives us the power to battle evil even more."
"Here - at this final hour, Harlem has come to bid farewell to one of its brightest hopes - extinguished now, and gone from us forever.... Many will ask what Harlem finds to honor in this stormy, controversial and bold young captain - and we will smile. ...We will answer and say unto them, ‘Did you ever talk to Brother Malcolm? Did you ever really listen to him? ...For if you did you would know him. And if you knew him you would know why we must honor him.'"
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Source: Ossie Davis (2006). “Life Lit by Some Large Vision: Selected Speeches and Writings”, p.19, Simon and Schuster
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"Any form of art is a form of power; it has impact, it can affect change. It can not only move us, it makes us move."
"I find, in being black, a thing of beauty: a joy; a strength; a secret cup of gladness."
"We can't float through life. We can't be incidental or accidental. We must fix our gaze on a guiding star as soon as one comes upon the horizon and once we have attached ourselves to that star we must keep our eyes on it and our hands upon the plow. It is the consistency of the pursuit of the highest possible vision that you can find in front of you that gives you the constancy, that gives you the encouragement, that gives you the way to understand where you are and why it's important for you to do what you can do."
"It is necessary to stay on the march, to be on the journey, to work for peace wherever we are at all times, because the liberty we cherish, which we would share with the world, demands eternal vigilance."
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