Wynton Marsalis Quotes

I am ... one of a different sort: one of those who risks his skin to prove his platitudes.

You’ve got to put your life on the line to show that you are part of the struggle.

You don't have to be a pastor to let your passion be felt and your voice heard. You just need to be willing to be the first one willing to die.

To dare: that is the whole secret of revolutions.

I have a great deal of respect and admiration for people who put themselves on the line.

For the first time in my life, I put my body and reputation on the line to stand up for my beliefs and do the right thing. I hope I've encouraged other people to do the same.

The people's flag is deepest red; It shrouded oft our martyred dead .... Then raise the scarlet standard high. Within its shade we'll live or die. Tho' cowards flinch and traitors sneer, We'll keep the red flag flying here.

Heroism means going out of bounds. In this world things must go out of bounds from time to time... No one can desire that the world continue to muddle along in every respect in the groove into which imperfect laws and even more imperfect behavior have pushed it. Without heroic intervention no Council of Nicaea, no dethronement of the Merovingians, no conquest of England, no Reformation, no revolt of the Netherlands, no free America. The thing that counts is who intervenes, how and in the name of what.

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.

I will climb the gallows gladly and show to the world as to how bravely the revolutionaries can sacrifice themselves for the cause.

I know what my causes are. And I care about them, so I'd rather get out there and talk about them than just play it safe.

I find it incredibly romantic that people should fight for a cause they believe in and be prepared to die for it.

To operate based on conviction and belief requires an acceptance that your actions could get you fired. This is different from pig-headed bravado, and it is different from putting the company at risk.

Now and then, someone is able to look at an empty space, conclude it would be a great place to start a revolution, and bravely go forward.

That is what leadership is all about: staking your ground ahead of where opinion is and convincing people, not simply following the popular opinion of the moment.

This girl at 17 really led an army, this girl at 19 really burned at the stake by her own choice. And you sit there and you want to figure out why did she make these choices? How did she live such a life?

If you believe in a cause, you must be willing to put yourself on the line for that cause.

Where do you find the strength to brave a barrage of enemy fire and to bring your wounded friends to safety at great risk to your own life? Conviction.

Political courage is not political suicide.

If what you do is being threatened as a profession, that could be scary. But that's the same reason why I walked out on stage many times after receiving death threats. I couldn't live without doing what I wanted to do. So at the same time I have to be willing to die for it.

We've always been a band that stood up for what we thought was right.

Never wear your best trousers when you go out to fight for freedom and truth.

I'm willing to throw my body in front of the bus to stop bad ideas.

Now I must defend with my blood the ideas that have come from my pen.

Come on, fire bullets at me. I am prepared to die for the sake of the people.