Jesse Ventura Quotes

Somebody, after all, had to make a start. What we wrote and said is also believed by many others. They just don't dare express themselves as we did.

Yeah, I kind of looked around and I can't understand why nobody else is speaking up. Later when I faced the backlash of speaking up, I realized why nobody did.

Anytime you're the first to speak out against something, there's going to be a backlash.

If this be treason, make the most of it!

To rebel against a powerful political, economic, religious, or social establishment is very dangerous and very few people do it, except, perhaps, as part of a mob. To rebel against the “scientific” establishment, however, is the easiest thing in the world, and anyone can do it and feel enormously brave, without risking as much as a hangnail.

Being a minority voice is still brave - even if the minority voice is from the right wing.

Dare to risk public criticism.

It is not easy to stand up against your constituents or your friends or colleagues or your community and take a tough stand for something you believe is right. Because you always want to keep working and live to fight another battle and it might cost you your career.

Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.

No matter that patriotism is too often the refuge of scoundrels. Dissent, rebellion, and all-around hell-raising remain the true duty of patriots.

The first time that I was elected I was called the Judas Iscariot of the black community because I took a stand that was inconsistent of cutting across the grain.

Political courage is not political suicide.

Most people get scared away from having an opinion. It's not so much my opinions everybody relates to, it's that I don't care about being punished for it.

There are two types of courage involved with what I did. When it comes to picking up a rifle, millions of people are capable of doing that, as we see in Iraq or Vietnam. But when it comes to risking their careers, or risking being invited to lunch by the establishment, it turns out that's remarkably rare.

During President George W. Bush's two terms, you couldn't drive far without seeing a particular bumper sticker: 'Dissent is the highest form of patriotism.'

There is nothing more American than dissent.

Political courage reads well in editorials, but it doesn't translate into political reality.

A minority may be right. The majority is always wrong.

The human race is a race of cowards. I am not only marching with them but am carrying the banner.

Leadership is about doing the right thing, even if it going against a vast number of naysayers and mediocre people.

Political criticism is our enemies' best friend.

The opposite for courage is not cowardice, it is conformity. Even a dead fish can go with the flow.

The patriot's blood is the seed of Freedom's tree.

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.

He would still see it as his duty to shut up and get on with it, not cause any trouble. In our own time we've made a hero of the rebel, and it's more heroic to speak up.