PAUL WELLSTONE

Sometimes, the only realists are the dreamers.

We all do better when we all do better.

If we don't fight hard enough for the things we stand for, at some point we have to recognize that we don't really stand for them.

I saw as a teacher how, if you take that spark of learning that those children have, and you ignite it, you can take a child from any background to a lifetime of creativity and accomplishment.

Successful organizing is based on the recognition that people get organized because they, too, have a vision.

As free citizens in a political democracy, we have a responsibility to be interested and involved in the affairs of the human community, be it at the local or the global level.

What makes community organizing especially attractive is the faith it places in the ability of the poor to make decisions for themselves.

It is the belief that extremes and excesses of inequality must be reduced so that each person is free to fully develop his or her full potential. This is why we take precious time out of our lives and give it to politics.

The only way to change is to vote. People are responsible.

When too many Americans don't vote or participate, some see apathy and despair. I see disappointment and even outrage. And I believe that out of this frustration can come hope and action.

There are three critical ingredients to democratic renewal and progressive change in America: good public policy, grassroots organizing and electoral politics.

Our aims in political activism are not, and should not be, to create a perfect utopia.

Politics is about the improvement of people's lives. It's about advancing the cause of peace and justice in our country and the world. Politics is about doing well for the people.

Never separate the life you live from the words you speak.

A politics that is not sensitive to the concerns and circumstances of people's lives, a politics that does not speak to and include people, is an intellectually arrogant politics that deserves to fail.

Politics isn't about big money or power games; it's about the improvement of people's lives.

The idea of democracy has been stripped of it moral imperatives and come to denote hollowness and hypocrisy.

I think the future also will not belong to those who are cynical or those who stand on the sidelines.

The American polity is infected with a serious imbalance of power between elites and masses, a power which is the principal threat to our democracy.

I emphasize self-esteem, self-confidence, and dignity, not as an ideal, but as a real test of community organization. Without leadership development, community organizations do not have staying power.

The future will belong to those who have passion and are willing to work hard to make our country better.

Education and democracy have the same goal: the fullest possible development of human capabilities.

Our politics are our deepest form of expression: they mirror our past experiences and reflect our dreams and aspirations for the future.

If a teacher does not involve himself, his values, his commitments, in the course of discussion, why should the students?

The people of this country, not special interest big money, should be the source of all political power.