John Lewis

Notable Quotes



To make it hard, to make it difficult almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not in keeping with the democratic process.

From John Lewis

The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.

From John Lewis

If you're not hopeful and optimistic, then you just give up. You have to take the long hard look and just believe that if you're consistent, you will succeed.

From John Lewis

My mother and father and many of my relatives had been sharecroppers.

From John Lewis

I was so inspired by Dr. King that in 1956, with some of my brothers and sisters and first cousins - I was only 16 years old - we went down to the public library trying to check out some books, and we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for colors. It was a public library.

From John Lewis

I would say the country is a different country. It is a better country. The signs I saw when I was growing up are gone and they will not return. In many ways the walls of segregation have been torn down.

From John Lewis

The government, both state and federal, has a duty to be reasonable and accommodating.

From John Lewis

I say to people today, 'You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.'

From John Lewis

When growing up, I saw segregation. I saw racial discrimination. I saw those signs that said white men, colored men. White women, colored women. White waiting. And I didn't like it.

From John Lewis

When I was 15 years old and in the tenth grade, I heard of Martin Luther King, Jr. Three years later, when I was 18, I met Dr. King and we became friends. Two years after that I became very involved in the civil rights movement. I was in college at that time. As I got more and more involved, I saw politics as a means of bringing about change.

From John Lewis

Authors with Similar Views

Donna Brazile

10 perspectives

George Takei

7 perspectives

Jesse Jackson

7 perspectives

Carol Moseley Braun

5 perspectives

John Shimkus

5 perspectives

Authors with Opposing Views

Jonathan Krohn

2 perspectives

Don King

2 perspectives

Jean-Michel Basquiat

1 perspectives

Jeff Kinney

1 perspectives

Joe Simon

1 perspectives