Rosa Parks forever changed the course of history with her brave act of resistance. And her words still resonate with power and purpose. If you’re looking for some motivation to keep going and stay the course, empowering quotes by the courageous civil rights hero Rosa Parks will inspire you to make a stand in your own life.
Best Rosa Parks Quotes
I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. Rosa Parks
You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right. Rosa Parks
I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people. Rosa Parks
I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free so other people would be also free. Rosa Parks
I’m tired of being treated like a second class citizen. Rosa Parks
Each person must live their life as a model for others. Rosa Parks
There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take. The line between reason and madness grows thinner. Rosa Parks
The only tired I was, was tired of giving in. Rosa Parks
Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again. Rosa Parks
At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in. Rosa Parks
In it not easy to remain rational and normal mentally in such a setting where, even in our airport in Montgomery, there is a white waiting room. There are restroom facilities for white ladies and colored women, white men and colored men. We stand outside after being served at the same ticket counter instead of sitting on the inside. Rosa Parks
God has always given me the strength to say what is right. Rosa Parks
I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom. Rosa Parks
Let us look at Jim Crow for the criminal he is and what he has done to one life multiplied millions of times over these United States and the world. He walks us on a tightrope from birth. Rosa Parks
People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in. Rosa Parks
The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute accepts people of any race. We don’t discriminate against anyone. We teach people to reach their highest potential. I set examples by the way I lead my life. Rosa Parks
Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that. Rosa Parks
Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restriction of Jim Crow laws. Rosa Parks
I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart. Rosa Parks
Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all you were doing was acting like a normal human being instead of cringing. Rosa Parks
All I was doing was trying to get home from work. Rosa Parks
Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others. Rosa Parks
I learned to put my trust in God and to see Him as my strength. Long ago I set my mind to be a free person and not to give in to fear. I always felt that it was my right to defend myself if I could. I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear. Rosa Parks
Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way. Rosa Parks
To this day I believe we are here on earth to live, grow, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom. Rosa Parks
The overseer beat him, tried to starve him, wouldn’t let him have any shoes, treated him so badly that he had a very intense, passionate hatred for white people. My grandfather was the one who instilled in my mother and her sisters, and in their children, that you don’t put up with bad treatment from anybody. It was passed down almost in our genes. Rosa Parks
I have been refused entrance on the buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter. That was the custom if the bus was crowded up to the point where the white passengers would start occupying. Rosa Parks
As a child I learned from the Bible to trust in God and not be afraid. And I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. God did away with all my fear. Rosa Parks
I talked and talked of everything I know about the white man’s inhuman treatment of the Negro. Rosa Parks
One of my greatest pleasures there was enjoying the smell of bacon frying and coffee brewing and knowing that white folks were doing the preparing instead of me. There was swimming in the man made lake, volleyball, square dancing. It was quite enjoyable to be with at Highlander. We forgot what color anybody was. I was forty two years old, and it was one of the few times in my life up to that point when I did not feel any hostility from white people. Rosa Parks
It was not pre arranged. It just happened that the driver made a demand and I just didn’t feel like obeying his demand. I was quite tired after spending a full day working. Rosa Parks
To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try. Rosa Parks
I don’t think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can’t force them to think that way. Rosa Parks
At the time I didn’t realize why there was so much Klan activity, but later I learned that it was because African American soldiers were returning from World War and acting as if they deserved equal rights because they had served their country. Rosa Parks
As far back as I can remember, I knew there was something wrong with our way of life when people could be mistreated because of the color of their skin. Rosa Parks
Even when there was segregation there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us. Rosa Parks
I have never been what you would call just an integrationist. I know I’ve been called that. Integrating that bus wouldn’t mean more equality. Even when there was segregation, there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us. Rosa Parks
That was a difference between black slaves and white indentured servants. Black slaves were usually not allowed to keep their names, but were given new names by their owners. Rosa Parks
I had felt for a long time that, if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so. Rosa Parks
You spend your whole lifetime in your occupation, actually making life clever, easy and convenient for white people. But when you have to get transportation home, you are denied an equal accommodation. Our existence was for the white man’s comfort and well being; we had to accept being deprived of just being human. Rosa Parks
What I learned best at Miss White’s school was that I was a person with dignity and self respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black. Rosa Parks
Why do you all push us around? Rosa Parks
We had a saying that we worked from can to can’t, which means working from when you can see sun up to when you can’t sun down. Rosa Parks
My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work. Rosa Parks
I was born 50 years after slavery, in 1913. I was allowed to read. My mother, who was a teacher, taught me when I was a very young child. The first school I attended was a small building that went from first to sixth grade. There was one teacher for all of the students. There could be anywhere from 50 to 60 students of all different ages. Rosa Parks
It was just a matter of survival like getting off the road so we could exist form day to day. Rosa Parks
I had decided that I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors. I had made that decision myself, as an individual. Rosa Parks
