Douglas Wilder Quotes

Somebody's got to be last. Somebody's going to be first.

First is first. That's the way I was brought up. Second or third are nowhere.

My presence here is one additional bit of evidence that the American dream need not be deferred.

The only way for a man to get ahead is to run faster than the fellow in front of him.

I'm going to show the difference between the champ and second place.

First is first,Second is nothing

It is not enough to succeed. Others must fail.

There are no great people. There are only great topics.

If he wins seven golds and ties what I did, then it would be like I was the first man on the moon and he became the second. If he wins more than seven, then he becomes the first man on Mars. We'd both be unique.

Without losers, where would the winners be?

Anytime you do anything, you want to know who was the best at it.

Some records are going to be bigger than others. You're always going to be compared to your biggest record.

Winning is overrated. The only time it is really important is in surgery and war.

In sport, if you want to be the best you have to compete against the best - I would much rather have come tenth and be judged against everyone than come first and be judged against just a few.

There will be no forced integration in Virginia. If Federal troops are sent into Virginia, they will patrol the halls of empty schools.

In the South the white men used to call all Black men “boy” until they got to be old enough to call them “uncle.” It was sex-the feat of sexual competition. When they used to get liquored up and talk they would always say, “The schoolroom leads to the bedroom” to justify school segregation.

If you do away with segregation, allow negro [sic] children in white schools, churches, etc. you might as well drop a few bombs on us and not prolong the agony.

I wanted to do away with these divisions—here German, there Jews.

The time to end racial segregation in the South is upon us now.

Anyone who was against segregation was considered a Communist

Blood will run in the streets if Negro pupils should attempt to enter Central High School.

A full commitment to integration means taking all reasonable steps to dismantle these barriers, even if this necessitates reforming long established practices that were not imposed with the intent to disadvantage the racial minorities but do so nonetheless.

The way to stop discrimination on the basis of race is to stop discriminating on the basis of race

I am an enemy of racism

Integration would lead to miscegenation, which will destroy our white race eventually.