Thurgood Marshall Quotes

Today, whether it is a student who holds a sit-in to get the army recruiters off his campus, or the mother of a dead soldier who refuses to leave the front gate of the president's ranch, we continue to be saved by brave people who risk ridicule and rejection but end up turning huge tides of public opinion in the direction of righteousness. We owe them enormous debts of gratitude. It is not easy to stand up for what is right, especially when everyone else is afraid to leave the comfortable path of conformity.

You need people with the courage to stand up and voice their opposition without being labeled unpatriotic.

I love revolutionaries who have the courage to stand up against the status quo. They're always misunderstood, but they're the ones who are standing up for human rights.

It's important to credit the brave people that take chances to stand up to regimes. They're the star.

The world is in a constant conspiracy against the brave. It's the age-old struggle: the roar of the crowd on the one side, and the voice of your conscience on the other.

If this be treason, make the most of it!

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

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

There's always something heroic and romantic about taking a stand against the powers that be.

There's always stuff to rebel against.

If I can, in any way, give people the courage to say, 'Actually, no, the nonsense stops right here,' then I want to be a part of doing that. Especially if that means that our folks will be more free.

I was accustomed to walking alone. I'd find other people who agreed with me, but they also said, "I wouldn't dare mention it." I was the only one who would say, "We've got to stand." And they said, "Well, yes. And after you make it safe, then I'll stand, too. But you have to make it safe."

Power is never so overwhelming that there's no room for resistance.

Intellectuals try to keep going. But their situation is very difficult. Those who have had the courage to voice their opposition have often paid a very high price.

Bring it on. Dissent is central to any democracy.

Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.

I hope I don't have to buck the system. But if it requires bucking, I will do it.

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

The seed of revolution is repression.

There is always a moment in any kind of struggle when one feels in full bloom. Vivid. Alive…. During my years of being close to people engaged in changing the world, I have seen fear turn into courage. Sorrow into joy. Funerals into celebrations. Because whatever the consequences, people, standing side by side, have expressed who they really are, and that ultimately they believe in the love of the world and each other enough to be that-which is the foundation of activism.

I'm looking to be shot any time I step out of my car ... If I die, it will be in a good cause. I've been fighting for America just as much as the soldiers in Vietnam.

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.

Great political and social changes begin to be possible as soon as men are not afraid to risk their lives.

I want every American to stand up for his rights, even if he has to sit down for them.

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice.