85 Paul Robeson Quotes From The Actor & Civil Rights Activist

Robeson Paul was famous for both his accomplishments as a singer and for his political Civil Rights activism.

Paul Robeson (1898 - 1976) was hugely intelligent too. He studied Swahili and phonetics at the College of Oriental and African Studies in London in 1934.

Robeson Paul's political activities began at this time, and he and went on to spend much of his life campaigning for Civil Rights.

Paul Robeson lived from 1898 - 1976 and left us a lot of inspiring quotes from his career as a singer and as a Civil Rights activist. We have the best of his career quotes here, so let's take a look at some of the best Paul Robeson quotes, including Paul Robeson quotes on racism, Paul Robeson quotes on the world around us, Paul Robeson quotes on music and more. If you like these Paul Robeson quotes, you should also read these Stokely Carmichael quotes and Howard Thurman quotes.

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Are you ready to discover the best Paul Robeson quotes? Here are some famous Paul Robeson quotes from the talented activist. Which of these Paul Robeson quotes inspires you?

1. "The answer to injustice is not to silence the critic but to end the injustice."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

2. "We must join with the tens of millions all over the world who see in peace our most sacred responsibility."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

3. "In my music, my plays, my films, I want to carry always this central idea: to be African."

- Paul Robeson.

4. "My future depends mostly upon myself."

- Paul Robeson.

5. "Artists are the gatekeepers of truth."

- Paul Robeson.

6. "The artist must elect to fight for Freedom or for Slavery."

- Paul Robeson.

7. "Freedom is a hard-bought thing."

- Paul Robeson.

8. "But the deep desire for peace remained with the American people."

- Paul Robeson.

9. "Artists are the radical voice of civilization."

- Paul Robeson.

10. "One does not need a very long racial memory to lose on oneself in such a part."

- Paul Robeson.

11. "If the United States truly wants peace and security let them fulfill the hopes of the common people everywhere."

- Paul Robeson.

12. "The history of the capitalist era is characterized by the degradation of my people."

- Paul Robeson.

13. "Sometimes great injustices may be inflicted on the minority when the majority is in the pursuit of a great and just cause."

- Paul Robeson.

14. "I am here because I am opposing the Neo-Fascist cause, which I see arising here in these committees."

- Paul Robeson.

15. "You are the non-patriots, and you are the un-Americans, and you ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

- Paul Robeson.

16. "In Russia, I felt for the first time like a full human being. No color prejudice like in Mississippi, or in Washington."

- Paul Robeson.

17. "Well, I am the son of an emancipated slave and the stories of old father are vivid on the tablets of my memory."

- Robeson Paul.

Paul Robeson speaks of racism in these important quotes. Let's look at these Paul Robeson quotes.

18. "That dream which we have held so long in our hearts is today the destiny that we hold in our hands."

- Paul Robeson.

19. "This is the basis, and I am not being tried for whether I am a Communist."

- Paul Robeson.

20. "The Korean war has always been an unpopular war among the American people."

- Paul Robeson.

21. "I have found out now that the African natives had a definite culture a long way beyond the culture of the Stone age."

- Paul Robeson.

22. "There are others, honest men beyond all doubt and sincerely concerned with their people's welfare."

- Paul Robeson.

23. "The man who accepts Western values absolutely, finds his creative faculties becoming so warped that he is almost completely dependent on external satisfactions."

- Paul Robeson.

24. "As an artist, I come to sing, but as a citizen, I will always speak for peace, and no one can silence me in this."

- Paul Robeson.

25. "Freedom is a hard-fought thing and millions are in chains, but they strain toward the new day drawing near."

- Paul Robeson.

26. "We must realize that our future lies chiefly in our own hands."

- Paul Robeson.

27. "The course of history can be changed with our hands but not halted with our hands"

- Paul Robeson.

28. "Get them to sing your song and they will want to know who you are."

- Paul Robeson.

29. "We ask for nothing that is not right, and herein lies the great power of our demand."

- Paul Robeson.

30. "The intolerance of the few, or the risk of it, carries the day against the wider humanity of the many."

- Paul Robeson.

31. " But beyond the personal tragedy, the terrible agony of Othello, the irretrievability of his world, the complete destruction of all his trusted and sacred values — all these suggest the shattering of a universe."

- Paul Robeson.

32. "Here we were born and here we will stay."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

33. "To fight for participation in the forward march of humanity."

- Paul Robeson.

Are you enjoying the Paul Robeson quotes so far? These Paul Robeson quotes are taken from the book 'Here I Stand'. What will you learn from these Paul Robeson quotes?

34. "To be free... to walk the good American earth as equal citizens, to live without fear, to enjoy the fruits of our toil, to give our children every opportunity in life."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

35. "Every artist, every scientist, must decide now where he stands."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

36. "Hard-working people, and poor, most of them, in worldly goods – but how rich in compassion!"

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

37. "I stand here struggling for the rights of my people to be full citizens in this country."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

38. "The battlefront is everywhere. There is no sheltered rear."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

39. "At every step, the vast majority have expressed horror at the idea of an aggressive war."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

40. "Yes, peace can and must be won, to save the world from the terrible destruction of World War III."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

41. "You know I am an actor, and I have medals for diction."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

42. "This United States Government should go down to Mississippi and protect my people. That is what should happen."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

43. "And, gentlemen, they have not yet done so, and it is quite clear that no Americans, are going to war with the Soviet Union."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

44. "I said it was my feeling that the American people would struggle for peace, and that has since been underscored by the President of these United States."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

45. "My name is Paul Robeson, and anything I have to say or stand for, I have said in public all over the world, and that is why I am here today."

- Paul Robeson, 'Here I Stand'.

Are you looking for more Paul Robeson quotes. Paul Robeson, on music, had a lot to say too. So, check out these Robeson Paul quotes on music and the world around us. Which of these Paul Robeson quotes is most interesting to you?

46. "What do you mean by the Communist Party? As far as I know, it is a legal party like the Republican Party and the Democratic Party."

- Paul Robeson.

47. "At one point American peace sentiment helped to stop Truman from pursuing the use of the atom bomb in Korea and helped force the recall of MacArthur."

- Paul Robeson.

48. "I do not hesitate one second to state clearly and unmistakably: I belong to the American resistance movement which fights against American imperialism."

- Paul Robeson.

49. "This is home to me. It is obvious that there is no terror here, that all the masses of every race are contented and support their government."

- Paul Robeson.

50. "One reverently speaks of Marx, Engels, Lenin, and Stalin—the shapers of humanity’s richest present and future."

- Paul Robeson.

51. "Like any other people, when the issue of peace or war has been put squarely to the American people, they have registered for peace."

- Paul Robeson.

52. "I did a long concert tour in England and Denmark and Sweden, and I also sang for the Soviet people, one of the finest musical audiences in the world."

- Paul Robeson.

53. "... they are going to die for their independence."

- Paul Robeson.

54. "My father was a slave and my people died to build this country and I am going to stay here and have a part of it just like you."

- Paul Robeson.

55. "My weapons are peaceful, for it is only by peace that peace can be attained."

- Paul Robeson.

56. "The faces and the tactics of the leaders may change every four years, or two, or one, but the people go on forever."

- Paul Robeson.

57. "Art is not just to show life as it is, but to show life as it should be."

- Paul Robeson.

58. "I can touch people's hearts better than I can their minds, with the common struggle of the common man."

- Paul Robeson.

59. "When I sang my American folk melodies, the people understood and wept or rejoiced with the spirit of the songs."

- Paul Robeson.

60. "I found that where forces have been the same, they understand each other in the common language of work, suffering, and protest."

- Paul Robeson.

61. "What mattered was was the opportunity, which came so seldom to our folks."

- Paul Robeson.

62. "When the people gather in righteous anger to demand that militant actions be started, such men believe it their duty to cool things off."

- Paul Robeson.

63. "I've learned that my people are not the only ones oppressed.

- Paul Robeson.

64. "The song of freedom must prevail."

- Paul Robeson.

65. "I have made my choice. I had no alternative."

- Paul Robeson.

66. "This is our home and this is our country."

- Paul Robeson.

67. "Beneath its soil lie bones of our fathers; for it some of them fought, bled, and died."

- Paul Robeson.

68. "I am now and will always be a loyal friend of the Soviet Union."

- Paul Robeson.

69. "I learned that along with the towering achievements of the cultures of ancient Greece and China there stood the culture of Africa."

- Paul Robeson.

70. "I want to make freedom ring."

- Paul Robeson.

71. "Let America and United Nations work together to accomplish on a worldwide scale."

- Paul Robeson.

72. " I am being tried for fighting for the right of my people."

- Paul Robeson.

73. "Whether I am or am not a Communist is irrelevant."

- Paul Robeson.

74. "The question is whether American citizens, regardless of their political beliefs or sympathies, may enjoy their constitutional rights."

- Paul Robeson.

75. "The kind of democratic association of free people which characterizes the Soviet Union today."

- Paul Robeson.

76. "Yes, I heard my people singing!"

- Paul Robeson.

77. "In the glow of parlor coal stove and on summer porches sweet with lilac air."

- Paul Robeson.

78. "From choir loft and Sunday morning pews-and, my soul was filled with their harmonies."

- Paul Robeson.

79. "And at home in the United States, we found continued and increased persecution."

- Paul Robeson.

80. "First of leaders of the Communist Party, and then of all honest anti-fascists."

- Paul Robeson.

81. "This is the basis, and I am not being tried for whether I am a Communist, I am being tried for fighting for the right of my people, who are still second-class citizens in this United States of America."

- Paul Robeson.

82. "The world rocks beneath their tread."

- Paul Robeson.

83. "As Americans, preserving the best of our traditions, we have the right."

- Paul Robeson.

84. "American minds the false notion that danger threatened them from the East."

- Paul Robeson.

85. "For the first time since I began acting, I feel that I've found my place in the world, where I can express and perhaps help others preserve."

- Paul Robeson.

Here at Kidadl, we have carefully created lots of interesting family-friendly quotes for everyone to enjoy! If you liked our suggestions for Paul Robeson quotes, why not look at these Rosa Parks quotes or Fannie Lou Hamer quotes for more great quotes?

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