69 John Lewis Quotes Infamous Trouble Quotes

John Lewis Quotes to inspire you for activism, John Lewis quotes freedom, forgiveness and John Lewis quotes for to never give up.

John Lewis Quotes to Get Into ‘Good Trouble’

Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.

John Lewis Quotes
John Lewis Quotes Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America

Nothing can stop the power of committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet.

John Lewis Quotes

These young people are saying we all have a right to know what is in the air we breathe, in the water we drink, and in the food we eat. It is our responsibility to leave this planet cleaner and greener. That must be our legacy.

John Lewis Quotes
John Lewis Quotes Too many of us still believe that our difference define us

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.

John Lewis Quotes

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

John Lewis Quotes

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You are a light. You are the light. Never let anyone — any person or any force — dampen, dim or diminish your light … Release the need to hate, to harbor division, and the enticement of revenge. Release all bitterness. Hold only love, only peace in your heart, knowing that the battle of good to overcome evil is already won.

John Lewis Quotes

I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that we have an obligation to condemn speech that is racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, or hateful.

John Lewis Quotes
John Lewis Quotes When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up (1)

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.

John Lewis Quotes

Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.

John Lewis Quotes

A democracy cannot thrive where power remains unchecked and justice is reserved for a select few. Ignoring these cries and failing to respond to this movement is simply not an option — for peace cannot exist where justice is not served.

John Lewis Quotes

Take a long, hard look down the road you will have to travel once you have made a commitment to work for change. Know that this transformation will not happen right away. Change often takes time. It rarely happens all at once. In the movement, we didn’t know how history would play itself out. When we were getting arrested and waiting in jail or standing in unmovable lines on the courthouse steps, we didn’t know what would happen, but we knew it had to happen.

John Lewis Quotes

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John Lewis Quotes for Activism

I say to people today, ‘You must be prepared if you believe in something. If you believe in something, you have to go for it. As individuals, we may not live to see the end.

John Lewis Quotes
John Lewis Quotes You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way… to get in the way.

You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way… to get in the way.

John Lewis Quotes

I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble.

John Lewis Quotes

The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something.

John Lewis Quotes
John Lewis Quotes be hopeful be optimistic never lose that sense of hope

It was not enough to come and listen to a great sermon or message every Sunday morning and be confined to those four walls and those four corners. You had to get out and do something.

John Lewis Quotes

We need some creative tension; people crying out for the things they want.

John Lewis Quotes

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

John Lewis Quotes

Before we went on any protest, whether it was sit-ins or the freedom rides or any march, we prepared ourselves, and we were disciplined. We were committed to the way of peace – the way of non-violence – the way of love – the way of life as the way of living.

John Lewis Quotes

We all live in the same house, we all must be part of the effort to hold down our little house. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just… do something about it. Say something. Have the courage. Have the backbone. Get in the way. Walk with the wind. It’s all going to work out.

John Lewis Quotes

We need someone who will stand up and speak up and speak out for the people who need help, for people who are being discriminated against. And it doesn’t matter whether they are black or white, Latino, Asian or Native American, whether they are straight or gay, Muslim, Christian, or Jews.

John Lewis Quotes

Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.

John Lewis Quotes

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I remember back in the 1960s – late ’50s, really – reading a comic book called ‘Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story.’ Fourteen pages. It sold for 10 cents. And this little book inspired me to attend non-violence workshops, to study about Gandhi, about Thoreau, to study Martin Luther King, Jr., to study civil disobedience.

John Lewis Quotes

John Lewis Quotes on the results of activism

Some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process. – John Lewis

There’s nothing wrong with a little agitation for what’s right or what’s fair. – John Lewis

Too many people struggled, suffered, and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote. – John Lewis

Following the teaching of Gandhi and Thoreau, Dr. King, it set me on a path. And I never looked back. – John Lewis

You have to tell the whole truth, the good and the bad, maybe some things that are uncomfortable for some people. – John Lewis

Never become bitter, and in the process, be happy and just go for it. – John Lewis

People come up to me in airports, they walk into the office, and they say, ‘I’m going to cry; I’m going to pass out.’ And I say, ‘Please don’t pass out; I’m not a doctor. – John Lewis

The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. made me very sad, and I mourned and cried like many of our citizens did. – John Lewis

Motivational Quotes

John Lewis Quotes on Inequality, Equality and Segregation

We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house… and through books, through information, we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For hate is too heavy a burden to bear. – John Lewis

When growing up, I saw segregation. I saw racial discrimination. I saw those signs that said white men, colored men. White women, colored women. White waiting. And I didn’t like it. – John Lewis

I was so inspired by Dr. King that in 1956, with some of my brothers and sisters and first cousins – I was only 16 years old – we went down to the public library trying to check out some books, and we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for colors. It was a public library. – John Lewis

We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jails over and over again. And then you holler, ‘Be patient.’ How long can we be patient? – John Lewis

I really believe that all of us, as Americans… we all need to be treated like fellow human beings. – John Lewis

Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division. – John Lewis

I believe race is too heavy a burden to carry into the 21st century. It’s time to lay it down. We all came here in different ships, but now we’re all in the same boat. – John Lewis

Too many of us still believe our differences define us. – John Lewis

We are one people; we are the only family. And when we finally accept these truths, then we will be able to fulfill Dr. King’s dream to build a beloved community, a nation, and a world at peace with itself. – John Lewis

We’re one people, and we all live in the same house. Not the American house, but the world house. – John Lewis

The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society. – John Lewis

John Lewis quotes on the progress he has seen in his lifetime

If someone had told me in 1963 that one day I would be in Congress, I would have said, ‘You’re crazy. You don’t know what you’re talking about. – John Lewis

Now we have black and white elected officials working together. Today, we have gone beyond just passing laws. Now we have to create a sense that we are one community, one family. Really, we are the American family. –John Lewis

I would say the country is a different country. It is a better country. The signs I saw when I was growing up are gone and they will not return. In many ways, the walls of segregation have been torn down. – John Lewis

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 the philosophy of non-violence. – John Lewis

If you ask me whether the election of Barack Obama is the fulfillment of Dr. King’s dream, I say, ‘No, it’s just a down payment. – John Lewis

There are still forces in America that want to divide us along racial lines, religious lines, sex, class. But we’ve come too far; we’ve made too much progress to stop or to pull back. We must go forward. And I believe we will get there. – John Lewis

Sometimes I hear people saying, ‘Nothing has changed.’ Come and walk in my shoes. – John Lewis

Sometimes I feel like crying, tears of happiness, tears of joy, to see the distance we’ve come and the progress we’ve made. – John Lewis

John Lewis Quotes on Government and Voting

The government, both state and federal, has a duty to be reasonable and accommodating. – John Lewis

In the past, the great majority of minority voters, in Ohio and other places that means African American voters, cast a large percentage of their votes during the early voting process. – John Lewis

To make it hard, to make it difficult, almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not in keeping with the democratic process. – John Lewis

Obama is not an African American president, but a president of all Americans. It doesn’t matter if you are black, white, Hispanic, he’s the president of all races. – John Lewis

The vote controls everything that you do. – John Lewis

The vote is precious. It’s almost sacred, so go out and vote like you never voted before. – John Lewis

It’s a shame and a disgrace that so few people take part in the political process. – John Lewis

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have. – John Lewis

We need comprehensive immigration reform. Dr. King wouldn’t be pleased at all to know that there are millions of people living in the shadow, living in fear in places like Georgia and Alabama. – John Lewis

Black men and women were not allowed to register to vote. My own mother, my own father, my grandfather, and my uncles and aunts could not register to vote because each time they attempted to register to vote, they were told they could not pass the literacy test. – John Lewis

More John Lewis Quotes and Sayings

I believe in freedom of speech, but I also believe that we have an obligation to condemn speech that is racist, bigoted, anti-Semitic, or hateful. – John Lewis

Darkness cannot overcome darkness, only light can do that. Violence can never overcome violence, only peace can do that. Hate can never overcome hate, only love can do that. – John Lewis

Every generation leaves behind a legacy. What that legacy will be is determined by the people of that generation. What legacy do you want to leave behind? – John Lewis

Nothing can stop the power of a committed and determined people to make a difference in our society. Why? Because human beings are the most dynamic link to the divine on this planet. – John Lewis

I loved going to the library. It was the first time I ever saw Black newspapers and magazines like JET, Ebony, the Baltimore Afro-American, or the Chicago Defender. And I’ll never forget my librarian. – John Lewis

Some people have told me that I am a rare bird in the blue sky of dreamers. – John Lewis

Fury spends itself pretty quickly when there’s no fury facing it. – John Lewis

I believed innocently and profoundly as a child that the world could be a better place. – John Lewis

Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.― John Lewis

It is only through examining history that you become aware of where you stand within the continuum of change. – John Lewis

There is a power that can raise you up even from the lowliest of places and guide you to the forefront of change if you truly want to create a better world. – John Lewis

John Lewis Quotes we all live in the same house

We all may not all live in a shotgun house, but we all live in the same houseWe all live on this little piece of real estate. It doesn’t matter whether we are Black or white or Latino or Asian American or Native American. We are one people, we are one family, we are one house.

John Lewis Quotes on Voting Rights

The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.

John Lewis Quotes never give up

Never give upNever give inNever become hostile… Hate is too big a burden to bear.

John Lewis Quotes freedom

Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take, and each generation must do its part to create an even more fair, more just society.

Who is John Lewis?

John Robert Lewis was an American politician, statesman, and civil rights activist and leader who worked in the United States House of Representatives for Georgia’s 5th congressional district from 1987 until he died in 2020.

Lewis was the son of Alabama sharecroppers. He visited segregated schools and was assisted by his parents not to confront the inequities of the Jim Crow South. However, as a teenager, he was motivated by the daring rebellion of Rosa Parks and Martin Luther King, Jr., to whose observation Lewis came when he showed his passion to desegregate Troy State College (now Troy University). Discouraged from doing so by his parents, Lewis rather was educated in Nashville at the American Baptist Theological Institute and Fisk University (B.A. in religion and philosophy, 1967).


John Lewis’ wife

Lillian Miles
m. 1968–2012

When was John Lewis born

21 February 1940

John Lewis Education

Fisk University, American Baptist College

John Lewis parents

Willie Mae Carter
Eddie Lewis

Where did John Lewis Live

Troy, Alabama, U.S. Atlanta, Georgia, U.S.


The unbelievable social liberties pioneer John Lewis terminated at 80 years old on July 17, however his tradition of falling into “great difficulty” to battle fundamental prejudice is still particularly vivacious and will keep going for a long time to show up.

Lewis committed as long as he can remember to protecting and empowering the privileges of Black individuals in the United States.

He was rebuffed and detained as a Freedom Rider in the mid-1960s, aroused oceans of individuals close by Martin Luther King Jr. at the 1963 March on Washington, and went through almost forty years supporting the motivations behind underestimated networks as an individual from the US House of Representatives for Georgia.

Over the most recent couple of long stretches of his life, Lewis worked resolutely to get the Voting Rights Advancement Act ordered into law as an approach to ensure each American’s all in all correct to cast a ballot, a right that had been undermined by the Supreme Court’s Shelby County v. Holder choice in 2013.

“I have said this previously, and I will say it once more,” Lewis said in June 2019. “The vote is valuable. It is practically sacrosanct. It is the most impressive peaceful device we have in a majority rules system.”

Since 2013, the straightforward demonstration of casting a ballot has been upset and obstructed in a few states, as governments establish new democratic necessities, cleanse elector rolls, close democratic areas, and spread deception, as indicated by the Brennan Center for Justice.

“Since the Shelby choice, elector separation is on the ascent,” Lewis said in a public statement in August 2018. “A large number of minorities are as a rule efficiently denied admittance to the polling booth, a considerable lot of whom have casted a ballot for their entire lives.”

The Voting Rights Advancement Act would stop these infringement and stretch out the option to cast a ballot to all US residents, including Black and Latin American individuals, individuals living in neediness, youth, and the once imprisoned.

The bill has effectively passed the US House of Representatives, and a large number of Lewis’ partners are presently saying that showing support for its order is one approach to respect the late social equality lobbyist.

Another approach to perceive his inheritance is to gain from his experience, set his striking words in motion, and champion common freedoms universally. John Lewis Quotes

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