Rosa Parks Quotes & Sayings

As long as there is unemployment, war, crime and all things that go to the infliction of man's inhumanity to man, regardless - there is much to be done, and people need to work together. — Rosa Parks

I'm tired of being treated like a second-class citizen. — Rosa Parks

Without a vision the people perish, but without courage dreams die. — Rosa Parks

Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all you were doing was acting like a normal human being instead of cringing. — Rosa Parks

I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change. — Rosa Parks

I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child. The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages. — Rosa Parks

Victory or defeat? It is the slogan of all-powerful militarism in every belligerent nation. And yet, what can victory bring to the proletariat? — Rosa Parks

My only concern was to get home after a hard day's work. — Rosa Parks

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. — Rosa Parks

I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up. — Rosa Parks

It takes more than one person to bring about peace - it takes all of us. — Rosa Parks

To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try. — Rosa Parks

I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom. — Rosa Parks

In it not easy to remain rational and normal mentally in such a setting where, even in our airport in Montgomery, there is a white waiting room ... There are restroom facilities for white ladies and colored women, white men and colored men. We stand outside after being served at the same ticket counter instead of sitting on the inside. — Rosa Parks

Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that. — Rosa Parks

You spend your whole lifetime in your occupation, actually making life clever, easy and convenient for white people. But when you have to get transportation home, you are denied an equal accommodation. Our existence was for the white man's comfort and well-being; we had to accept being deprived of just being human. — Rosa Parks

Why do you all push us around? — Rosa Parks

Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again. — Rosa Parks

People have said over the years that the reason I did not give up my seat was because I was tired. I did not think of being physically tired. My feet were not hurting. I was tired in a different way. I was tired of seeing so many men treated as boys and not called by their proper names or titles. I was tired of seeing children and women mistreated and disrespected because of the color of their skin. I was tired of Jim Crow laws, of legally enforced racial segregation. — Rosa Parks

It is better to protest than to accept injustice. — Rosa Parks

I had been pushed as far as I could stand — Rosa Parks

All I was trying to do was get home from work. — Rosa Parks

When one's mind is made up ... fear diminishes. — Rosa Parks

I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free ... so other people would be also free. — Rosa Parks

Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated. — Rosa Parks

As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done. — Rosa Parks

There is no future without education. — Rosa Parks

God has always given me the strength to say what is right. — Rosa Parks

Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restriction of Jim Crow laws. — Rosa Parks

I talked and talked of everything I know about the white man's inhuman treatment of the Negro. — Rosa Parks

Let us look at Jim Crow for the criminal he is and what he has done to one life multiplied millions of times over these United States and the world. He walks us on a tightrope from birth. — Rosa Parks

One person can change the world. — Rosa Parks

I have never been what you would call just an integrationist. I know I've been called that ... Integrating that bus wouldn't mean more equality. Even when there was segregation, there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us. — Rosa Parks

I did not get on the bus to get arrested I got on the bus to go home. — Rosa Parks

I will always work for human rights for all people. — Rosa Parks

Since I have always been a strong believer in God, I knew that He was with me, and only He could get me through that next step — Rosa Parks

I had felt for a long time that, if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so. — Rosa Parks

I want to be treated like a human being. — Rosa Parks

There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take ... The line between reason and madness grows thinner. — Rosa Parks

I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. — Rosa Parks

The only tired I was, was tired of giving in. — Rosa Parks

If you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach. If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble, and trusted, this is recognized by others. — Rosa Parks

Many whites, even white Southerners told me that even though it may have seemed like the blacks were being freed (by my actions) they felt more free and at ease themselves. They thought that my action didn't just free blacks but them, too. — Rosa Parks

The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute accepts people of any race. We don't discriminate against anyone. We teach people to reach their highest potential. I set examples by the way I lead my life. — Rosa Parks

If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with. — Rosa Parks

An opportunity was being given to me to do what I had asked of others. — Rosa Parks

I am leaving this legacy to all of you ... to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die - the dream of freedom and peace. — Rosa Parks

Each person must live their life as a model for others. — Rosa Parks

I have spent over half my life teaching love and brotherhood, and I feel that it is better to continue to try to teach or live equality and love than it would be to have hatred or prejudice. Everyone living together in peace and harmony and love - that's the goal that we seek, and I think that the more people there are who reach that state of mind, the better we will all be. — Rosa Parks

I'd see the bus pass every day ... But to me, that was a way of life; we had no choice but to accept what was the custom. The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world. — Rosa Parks

When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night. — Rosa Parks

There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still. As long as a child needs help, as long as people are not free, there will be work to do. As long as an elderly person is attacked or in need of support, there is work to do. As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do. — Rosa Parks

We didn't have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down. — Rosa Parks

I have been refused entrance on the buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter. That was the custom if the bus was crowded up to the point where the white passengers would start occupying. — Rosa Parks

I don't think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can't force them to think that way. — Rosa Parks

What really matters is not whether we have problems, but how we go through them. We must keep going on to make it through whatever we are facing. — Rosa Parks

People need to free their minds of racial prejudice and believe in equality for all and freedom regardless of race. It would be a good thing if all people were treated equally and justly and not be discriminated against because of race or religion or anything that makes them different from others. — Rosa Parks

Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others. — Rosa Parks

Racial pride and self-dignity were emphasized in my family and community. — Rosa Parks

I thought about Emmett Till, and I could not go back. My legs and feet were not hurting, that is a stereotype. I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated. I was not going back. — Rosa Parks

If I can sit down for freedom, you can stand up for children. — Rosa Parks

I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people. — Rosa Parks

I thought of Emmett Till, and when the bus driver ordered me to move to the back, I just couldn't move. — Rosa Parks

I learned to put my trust in God and to see Him as my strength. Long ago I set my mind to be a free person and not to give in to fear. I always felt that it was my right to defend myself if I could. I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. - Rosa Parks — Rosa Parks

As far back as I can remember, I knew there was something wrong with our way of life when people could be mistreated because of the color of their skin. — Rosa Parks

I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day. — Rosa Parks

Every day before supper and before we went to services on Sundays my grandmother would read the Bible to me, and my grandfather would pray. We even had devotions before going to pick cotton
in the fields. Prayer and the Bible, became a part of my everyday thoughts and beliefs. I learned to put my trust in God and to seek Him as my strength — Rosa Parks

Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way. — Rosa Parks

All I was doing was trying to get home from work. — Rosa Parks

I was ready to die but give my consent never. Never, never. — Rosa Parks

Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome. — Rosa Parks

At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in. — Rosa Parks

I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move. — Rosa Parks

There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took on more step, someone would come along to join me. — Rosa Parks

When people made up their minds that they wanted to be free and took action, then there was a change. — Rosa Parks

I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be. — Rosa Parks

I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart. — Rosa Parks

I did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I had paid for. It was just time ... there was opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner. I had not planned to get arrested. I had plenty to do without having to end up in jail. But when I had to face that decision, I didn't hesitate to do so because I felt that we had endured that too long. The more we gave in, the more we complied with that kind of treatment, the more oppressive it became. — Rosa Parks

Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it. — Rosa Parks

My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest ... I did a lot of walking in Montgomery. — Rosa Parks

It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made a demand and I just didn't feel like obeying his demand. I was quite tired after spending a full day working. — Rosa Parks