Molly Ivins Quotes

So keep fightin' for freedom and justice, beloveds, but don't you forget to have fun doin' it. Lord, let your laughter ring forth. Be outrageous, ridicule the fraidy-cats, rejoice in all the oddities that freedom can produce.

Joy doesn't betray but sustains activism. And when you face a politics that aspires to make you fearful, alienated and isolated, joy is a fine initial act of insurrection.

Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don't give up the fight.

MLK, Jr. taught me how to say no to segregation, and I can hear him saying now... when you straighten up your back, no man can ride you. He said stand up straight and say no to racial discrimination.

As the daughter of a civil rights leader, I believe in the power that compels people to stand up for their freedoms, for justice and opportunity. I know that marching inspires people to take an active role in creating positive change for a better America.

I know we have to have people of good conscience who stand up against oppression. I know we have to have people who understand that social justice belongs to us all. And that wakes me up every morning, and that makes me fight even harder.

There is no force more liberating than the knowledge that you are fighting for others.

We are here, not because we are law-breakers; we are here in our efforts to become law-makers.

For as long as I can remember, I've always been interested in issues of social justice, political freedom, and civil rights.

Security isn't what I hunger for. I hunger for change. I hunger for connection.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

An oppressed people will always rise.

Those who today still feel a sense of impotence can do something: they can support Amnesty International. They can help it to stand up for freedom and justice.

My fellow revolutionaries, liberation is a noble cause. We must fight to obtain it.

Don't be a marshmallow. Walk the street with us into history. Get off the sidewalk. Stop being vegetables. Work for Justice. Viva the boycott!

In any social revolution the one thing that keeps it alive is hope.

Disobey the rules; ask for more; leave your wretchedness behind; organize with your brothers and sisters; never accept the hand of fate.

I can give you nothing but my life. I wish that my last breath might be of use to my fellow citizens and that my head'[after she was guillotined], carried through Paris, might be a signal to rally all the friends of justice …. I have shown you the way. You know your enemies. Arise, march, and strike!

Oppression costs the oppressor too much if the oppressed stand up and protest.

Neither God, nor angels, or just men, command you to suffer for a single moment. Therefore it is your solemn and imperative duty to use every means, both moral, intellectual, and physical, that promise success .... Brethren, arise, arise! Strike for your lives and liberties.... Let your motto be resistance, resistance, resistance!

One should never put on one's best trousers to go out to fight for freedom.

No great movement designed to change the world can bear to be laughed at or belittled.

No revolution can ever succeed as a factor of liberation unless the MEANS used to further it be identical in spirit and tendency with the PURPOSES to be achieved.

People and systems count on our silence to keep us exactly where we are.... in a world that wants us to whisper, I choose to yell.

Raise hell - big time. I want y'all to get out there and raise hell about damned near everything. My word, there's a world out there that needs fixing. Get out there and get after it.