90+ Best Activism Quotes To Inspire And Motivate You

Civil rights are basic human rights, and to bring about social changes one needs to do vigorous campaigning.

No one in history ever brought change in simple words. Words coupled with an action are what have brought life-changing developments to our world.

So, if you are looking for motivational words and activism quotes to help you in the journey of social activism then you are on the right page.

Here we have collected plenty of social justice quotes and quotes about movements to inspire you, your friends and family to do something about the things you don't approve of in the world. People like Martin Luther King Jr., Deray McKesson, Anne Frank, Sue Monk Kidd and others have spoken out against various injustices.

They fought to bring changes in the world and make the world a better place for everyone.

So, what are you waiting for? Check out these articles on activist quotes, human rights quotes, advocacy quotes, and much more. You can also check out these democracy quotes and protest quotes articles too.

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Famous Quotes About Activism

In 'I Am An Emotional Creature, Eve Ensler said, “Go so far away that you stop being afraid of not coming back.” Take inspiration from this; leave your fears and fight for things that can make the world a better place for your children, and every for every future generation, just like our ancestors did for us.

These protest quotes about rights and social change quotes will inspire today's youth to work towards social changes and peace.

Can you pick your favorite advocacy quote from this list of activist quotes?

1. “How wonderful it is that nobody needs to wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.”

- Anne Frank.

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

– Martin Luther King Jr.

3. "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.

4. "I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole."

– Malcolm X.

5. “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

― Margaret Mead.

6. "Animals don’t lie. Animals don’t criticize. If animals have moody days, they handle them better than humans do."

- Betty White.

7. “Unless someone like you cares a whole awful lot, Nothing is going to get better. It's not.”

― Dr. Seuss, 'The Lorax'.

8. "What are you waiting on? Do it! Stand up for what you believe in. The world needs your voice. Whoever you are, you have something to say. Say it.”

- Kerry Washington.

9. "Burnout is a way of telling you that your form of activism was perhaps not a very full circle."

– Gloria Steinem.

10. "We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced."

– Malala Yousafzai.

11. "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

– Nelson Mandela.

12. "I'm a big cockeyed optimist. I try to accentuate the positive as opposed to the negative."

- Betty White.

13. "Strength does not come from physical capacity. It comes from an indomitable will."

– Mahatma Gandhi.

14. "Jails and prisons are designed to break human beings, to convert the population into specimens in a zoo – obedient to our keepers, but dangerous to each other."

– Angela Davis.

15. “There may be times when we are powerless to prevent injustice, but there must never be a time when we fail to protest.”

― Elie Wiesel.

16. "Sometimes protest is telling the truth to a public that isn’t quite ready to hear it.

The protest is, in its own way, storytelling. We use our bodies, our words, our art, and our sounds both to tell the truth about the pain that we endure and to demand the justice that we know is possible. It is meant to build and to force a response."

– DeRay Mckesson.

17. "Give us what belongs to us in peace, and if you don’t give it to us in peace, we will take it by force."

– Emma Goldman.

18. "Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world."

– Dolores Huerta.

19. "If you haven’t forgiven yourself something, how can you forgive others?"

– Dolores Huerta.

20. "All social movements are founded by, guided by, motivated, and seen through by the passion of individuals."

- Margaret Mead.

21. "To sin by silence, when we should protest, makes cowards out of men.”

– Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

22. “You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.”

– Eldridge Cleaver.

23. “The duty of youth is to challenge corruption.”

― Kurt Cobain.

24. "I'm an animal rights activist because I believe we won't have a planet if we continue to behave toward other species the way we do."

- James Cromwell.

25. "Right now, we need to show our politicians that if they won’t lead, then we will because leadership is strongest when it comes from our community."

- Amelia Telford.

26. "You have to be secure in yourself to engage and challenge the mainstream."

- Anne Poelina.

27. "The pain and the suffering that I went through made me an activist. It made me stronger; it made me more compassionate."

- Lecrae.

28. “Protesting is about making history, creating art, and protecting future generations.”

– Steven Magee.

29. "I never thought about myself as an activist when we were coming along. I love the people I love. I didn't care whether they could be a Democrat, Republican, communist... anything but a racist."

- Ruby Dee.

30. "If we try, we may still fail. But if we do not try, we cannot possibly succeed."

- Christine Milne.

31.  “Every moment is an organizing opportunity, every person a potential activist, every minute a chance to change the world.”

– Dolores Huerta.

32. “Most activism is brought about by us ordinary people.”

– Patricia Hill Collins.

33. “To the wrongs that need resistance, to the right that needs assistance, to the future in the distance, give yourselves.”

– Carrie Chapman Catt.

34. “Avoiding offense means that we don’t accept each other as equals.”

– Ayaan Hirsi Ali.

35. "Entering public life as a woman - be it as a politician, journalist, expert, or activist - makes you the target of the most sinister threats, abuse, and language."

- Gina Miller.

36. "When compassion wakes up in us, we find ourselves more willing to become vulnerable, to take the risk of entering the pain of others."

- Sue Monk Kidd.

37. “We have freedom of speech. We are able to hold hands in protest and stand up for what we believe in and have people hear what you have to say.”

– Randy Orton.

38. "I'm an activist. I'm a proud activist. So I want to be someone who is pro-black and pro-Africa and still be somebody that has a positive influence."

- Kat Graham.

39. “It seems the only way to gain attention today is to organize a march and protest something.”

– Billy Graham.

40. “Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced.”

– James Baldwin.

41. “One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.”

― Martin Luther King Jr..

42. “Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force but through persistence.”

― Ovid.

43. “There’s always going to be a need for activism; there’s always going to be a need for you and me doing the right thing, being very Lincoln-sonian in looking out for each other.”

– Henry Rollins.

44. “Silence becomes cowardice when the occasion demands speaking out the whole truth and acting accordingly.”

― Mahatma Gandhi.

45. “Activism is a very admirable way to create change, but it has to go hand in hand with personal contact with the people with whom we have opposing points of view; without that, there will never be any movement.”

– Michael Feinstein.

46. “It is not always the same thing to be a good man and a good citizen.”

― Aristotle, 'Selected Writings From The Nicomachean Ethics And Politics'.

47. “We want to take our activism and our power into action and change things for every woman, everywhere, working in any workplace.”

– Mira Sorvino.

48. “I can be changed by what happens to me. But I refuse to be reduced by it.”

– Maya Angelou.

49. "Being an activist and an artist - those two things should go together. You should allow the artistic sensibility to control some of your activism, but never should it be allowed to paralyze you."

- Bill Ayers.

50. “Washing one's hands of the conflict between the powerful and the powerless means to side with the powerful, not to be neutral.”

— Paulo Freire.

Inspirational Quotes About Activism

Inspirational quotes about social movements or Civil Rights movements can inspire a new generation of activists. Here we have listed some famous quotes about social change, along with youth activism quotes, quotes about youth changing the world, quotes about humanity and peace, short social justice quotes and political activism quotes to inspire, motivate, and wake you up.

Get inspired to make a real change in your community with these activism quotes.

51. "Leaders have a responsibility to open doors and create opportunities for others and to support them to reach their full potential."

- Anne Poelina.

52. “Give light and people will find the way.”

– Ella Baker.

53. “Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.”

– Cesar Chavez.

54. "Being an activist is about getting things done. It's not about standing around shaking your fist in anger."

- Christine Quinn.

55. “I don’t think there’s any perfect way to protest.”

– Megan Rapinoe.

56. “Who can protest alone? Who dares rise up? It is not easy. One is all alone, and evermore shall be so.”

– Michael Leunig.

57. “I think of protest as confrontation and disruption, as the end of silence.”

– DeRay Mckesson.

58. “A right is not what someone gives you; it’s what no one can take from you.”

– Ramsey Clark.

59. “We too often bind ourselves by authorities rather than by the truth.”

– Lucretia Mott.

60. "You have to be secure in yourself to engage and challenge the mainstream."

- Anne Poelina.

61. "Activist shareholder resolutions do not have to pass to succeed. The process itself can be so injurious to a company that management will cave to demands."

- Elaine Chao.

62. "We have our eye on the same destination – a sustainable future where Indigenous people are recognized for their wisdom and honored for their culture – there is no problem taking a different path to reach that place."

- Jacquie Huggins.

63. “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.

64. “If you’re able to protest, protest. If you’re able to volunteer, volunteer.”

– Ad-Rock.

65. "My outspoken beliefs have been embraced, but I don't consider myself an activist. Maybe people consider me like that, but it's not anything outrageous or bad I can't live with."

-  Burning Spear.

66. "You can choose not to be interested in politics, but you can’t choose to be unaffected by it."

-Penny Wong.

67. "It’s a sign of your own worth sometimes if you are hated by the right people."

- Stella Miles Franklin.

68. "That's the big mistake the environmental movement made - 'We'll scare the hell out of you, and you'll become an activist'."

- Naomi Klein.

69. "Caring for myself is not self-indulgence. It is self-preservation, and that is an act of political warfare."

- Audre Lorde.

70. "Freedom, by definition, is people realizing that they are their own leaders."

- Diane Nash.

71. “Nothing strengthens authority so much as silence.”

- Leonardo da Vinci.

72. "I guess because the shows were activist in their own way - the marriage of my public activism and my career activism, you know - people understand me very well. They also understand there's a very strong bipartisan part in all of this."

- Norman Lear.

73. "Someone who does an act. In a democratic society, you're supposed to be an activist; that is, you participate. It could be a letter written to an editor."

- Studs Terkel.

74. “To sin by silence, when they should protest, makes cowards of men.”

― Ella Wheeler Wilcox.

75. “A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government.”

― Edward Abbey.

76. "One individual cannot possibly make a difference, alone. It is individual efforts, collectively, that makes a noticeable difference—all the difference in the world!"

- Jane Goodall.

77. "If this world is to be healed through human efforts, I am convinced it will be by ordinary people whose love for life is even greater than their fear."

- Joanna Macy.

78. “Protest beyond the law is not a departure from democracy; it is absolutely essential to it.”

― Howard Zinn.

79. "I was raised in a very activist household so that I grew up surrounded by people who were activists. "

- Pearl Cleage.

80. “If I were to remain silent, I'd be guilty of complicity.”

― Albert Einstein.

81. “Say what you want but you never say it with violence!”

― Gerard Way.

82. "Social media is not just another way to connect feminist and activist voices - it amplifies our messages as well."

- Jessica Valenti.

83. “Even on this most terrible days, even when the worst of us is all we can think of, I am proud to be a human.”

― Hank Green.

84. “There is absolutely no greater high than challenging the power structure as a nobody, giving it your all, and winning!”

― Abbie Hoffman.

85. "All around us the old stories are failing, crumbling in the face of lived experience and scientific reality. But what stories will replace them?"

- Naomi Klein.

86.  "The Monster Ball is by nature a protest: A youth church experience to speak out and celebrate against all forms of discrimination and prejudice.”

― Lady Gaga.

87. "Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts."

- Rachel Carson.

88. "Hope just means another world might be possible, not promise, not guaranteed. Hope calls for action; action is impossible without hope."

- Rebecca Solnit.

89. "You are not Atlas carrying the world on your shoulder. It is good to remember that the planet is carrying you."

- Vandana Shiva.

90. "We are either going to have a future where women lead the way to make peace with the Earth or we are not going to have a human future at all."

– Vandana Shiva.

91. "I believe activism is the true source of change in the world. Pushing to change social structures in communities that you are a part of is critical for making real lasting change."

– Marley Dias.

92. "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."

– Rebecca Solnit.

93. “Actually oddly enough, I think my work, the activism, will be forgotten. And I hope it will. Because I hope those problems will have gone away.”

– Bono.

94. "You want to know what judicial activism is? Judicial activism is judges imposing their policy preferences on the words of the Constitution."

– Ted Cruz.

95. "To me, I think leadership is activism. It's giving back to your community, it's investing in oneself, and you know women and children."

– Black Thought.

96. "Activism has been very productive in our society."

–  Anthony Fauci.

97. “You just have to find your activism and don’t let anyone tell you what that should look like. If you’re doing the work, and you’re getting someone to think, you’re on the right path.”

– Angie Thomas.

98. "There can be no activist judges from any political party."

- Mauricio Macri.

99. "An activist is one who is actively involved in creating a community, whether that is locally in their neighborhood or internationally. It is an admirable quality."

-Jasmine Guy.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for the best activism quotes to inspire and motivate you, then why not take a look at these human rights quotes, or female empowerment quotes for more inspiration?

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