Quotes about Equality

Ev'ry Voice and Sing"—words by James Weldon Johnson and music by J. Rosamond Johnson. Copyright by Edward B. Marks Music Corporation. Used by permission.

If I'm living a little better now, it's because I treats everybody right.

Each time a woman stands up for herself, she stands up for all women.

Whether we were in the mines of South Africa, or the liberal New York theater, nothing changed. Whites wanted everything. They thought they deserved everything. That they wanted to possess all the materials of the earth was in itself disturbing, but that they also wanted to control the souls and the pride of people was inexplicable.

Did he insult you? I mean us, the race? Not directly. Like most white racists, he was paternalistic. I would have preferred he slap me than that he talk down upon me. Then I could retaliate in kind.

I read more than ever, and wished my soul that I had been born a boy. Horatio Alger was the greatest writer in the world. His heroes were always good, always won, and were always boys. I could have developed the first two virtues, but becoming a boy was sure to be difficult, if not impossible.

Free others to be who they are. In so doing, you will set yourself free.

Love cannot exist without the dimension of justice.

Being a doctor at Johns Hopkins does not make me any better in God's sight than the individual who has not had the opportunity to gain such an education but who still works hard.

There isn't anybody in the world who isn't worth something," I say. "If you're nice to them, they'll be nice to you. The same people you meet on the way up are the same kind of people you meet on the way down. Besides that, every person you meet is one of God's children.

We need to start evaluating people based on their abilities and not on their sex or other congenital characteristics.

It mattered not what color your skin was on the outside, but rather what the condition was of your heart and mind inside.