John Lewis

“What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible.”

“You have to go with your gut sometimes, and how you feel.”

“We must be headlights and not taillights.”

“Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.”

“Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be - you get out and push and you pull and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men...”

“When I was a student, I studied philosophy and religion. I talked about being patient. Some people say I was too hopeful, too optimistic, but you have to be optimistic just in keeping with t...”

“I'm very hopeful. I am very optimistic about the future.”

“Be hopeful. Be optimistic. Never lose that sense of hope.”

“Who gets the bird, the hunter or the dog?”

“Without the Sisters of St. Joseph, I might not be standing here.”

“The party of Kennedy is also the party of Eastland. The party of Javits is also the party of Goldwater.”

“Early on, I wrote a letter to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. I was 17. I felt called, moved.”

“When I was 15 years old in 1955, I heard of Rosa Parks. I heard the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. on our radio.”

“The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.”

“My mother and father and many of my relatives had been sharecroppers.”

“You have to be optimistic in order to continue to move forward.”

“I don't think Trump really believes in all this stuff. But he thinks this would be his ticket to the White House - at least to get the Republican nomination.”

“There is a need for a movement of non-violent direct action.”

“When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something.”

“Rosa Parks inspired me to find a way to get in the way, to get in trouble... good trouble, necessary trouble.”