John Henrik Clarke Quotes

History is not everything, but it is a starting point. History is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. It is a compass they use to find themselves on the map of human geography. It tells them where they are but, more importantly, what they must be.

The role of the artist is to make the revolution irresistible.

If you want to move the masses, you must first move yourself.

There is no such thing as a Negro problem; there is only a white problem.

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

A people’s history is the key to their liberation.

You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.

The oppressed will always believe the worst about themselves.

I am more than my skin color; I am a human being.

Justice will not be served until those who are unaffected are as outraged as those who are.

The price of greatness is responsibility.

The only way to deal with an unfree world is to become so absolutely free that your very existence is an act of rebellion.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.’

John Henrik Clarke Quotes part 2

The time is always right to do what is right.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.

We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

The time is always right to do what is right.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

The time is always right to do what is right.

In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

The true measure of a nation’s stand is how well it protects its children.

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.

We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.

Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.

We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

The true measure of a nation’s stand is how well it protects its children.

You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say.

You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.

The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.

The best way to predict the future is to create it.

If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

If you want to lift yourself up, lift up someone else.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.