105 Rosa Parks Famous Quotes

The quiet power of Rosa Parks’s words continues to resonate across generations, offering windows into the mind of a woman whose courage changed America.

While history remembers her for a single moment on a Montgomery bus in December 1955, Parks’s thoughts on freedom, justice, and human dignity reveal a lifetime of profound reflection.

Her quotes capture the essence of a woman who combined unwavering principles with remarkable clarity.

In these carefully chosen words, we discover not just the civil rights icon but the thoughtful philosopher, the patient strategist, and the compassionate observer of human nature.

From her most famous declarations to lesser-known reflections, these quotations show the inner strength that transformed a seemingly ordinary woman into an extraordinary catalyst for change.

Let Parks’s own words reveal the fullness of her character and conviction.

About Rosa Parks

Rosa Parks (1913-2005) became an critical figure in American civil rights history when she refused to surrender her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama on December 1, 1955.

While often portrayed as simply a tired seamstress, Parks was actually a seasoned civil rights activist who had served as secretary of the Montgomery NAACP for twelve years prior to her arrest.

Her deliberate act of defiance sparked the 381-day Montgomery Bus Boycott, which ultimately led to the Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional.

Parks’s courage came at great personal cost—she lost her department store job, received death threats, and eventually relocated to Detroit to find employment.

Her quiet determination and unwavering dignity made her an enduring symbol of peaceful resistance against injustice.

When she died at age 92, she became the first woman and second African American to lie in honor in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.

Quotes on Civil Rights & Activism

1. “I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.”
2. “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.”
3. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
4. “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”
5. “I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.”
6. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. I was not tired physically… I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”
7. “I don’t believe in gradualism, or that whatever is to be done for the better should take forever to do.”
8. “Racism is still with us. But it is up to us to prepare our children for what they have to meet, and, hopefully, we shall overcome.”
9. “It is better to protest than to accept injustice.”
10. “The time had just come when I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed.”
11. “Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.”
12. “I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”
13. “To this day I believe we are here on the planet Earth to live, grow up and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.”
14. “You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.”
15. “I wasn’t comfortable with the authorities telling me what to do—whom to talk with, where to sit, how to speak, or where to go.”
16. “I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day.”
17. “My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work.”
18. “As far back as I can remember, I knew there was something wrong with our way of life when people could be mistreated because of the color of their skin.”

Quotes on Perseverance

19. “I am leaving this legacy to all of you… to bring peace, justice, equality, love and a fulfillment of what our lives should be. Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die—the dream of freedom and peace.”
20. “People need to free their minds of racial prejudice and believe in equality for all and freedom regardless of race.”
21. “There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take… The line between reason and madness grows thinner.”
22. “I wanted to be treated like a human being.”
23. “Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”
24. “Differences of race, nationality or religion should not be used to deny any human being citizenship rights or privileges.”
25. “If you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach.”
26. “I had felt for a long time that, if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.”
27. “At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.”

Quotes on Education & Understanding

28. “We still have a long way to go to make it right. We have a long way to go to bring the dream of real and lasting freedom to life.”
29. “Each of us has a moral obligation to stand up, speak up and speak out.”
30. “Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way.”
31. “Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all you were doing was acting like a normal human being instead of cringing.”
32. “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.”
33. “Have you ever been hurt and the place tries to heal a bit, and you just pull the scar off of it over and over again.”
34. “I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.”
35. “I believe there is only one race—the human race.”
36. “My desire was to be treated like a human at a time when black people were treated like animals.”
37. “All I was doing was trying to get home from work.”

Quotes on Leadership

38. “I did not want to be mistreated, I did not want to be deprived of a seat that I had paid for. It was just time… there was an opportunity for me to take a stand to express the way I felt about being treated in that manner.”
39. “I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.”
40. “Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.”
41. “It takes more than one person to bring about peace—it takes all of us.”
42. “We must have courage—determination—to go on with the task of becoming free—not only for ourselves, but for the nation and the world.”
43. “Life is to be lived to its fullest so that death is just another chapter. Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”
44. “I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.”
45. “There was a time when people used to say, ‘What do you want?’ and I would say, ‘Freedom.’ But freedom is not something that one gets, it’s something that one gains.”
46. “What I learned best at school was that I was supposed to keep quiet and those questions of mine should remain in my head.”
47. “God has always given me the strength to say what is right.”

Quotes on Personal Reflections

48. “I was born 50 years too early. I would have enjoyed being a part of the new movement.”
49. “I was not tired—I was just tired of giving in.”
50. “The cause of freedom is not the cause of a race or a sect, a party or a class—it is the cause of human kind, the very birthright of humanity.”
51. “I had no idea when I refused to give up my seat on that Montgomery bus that my small action would help put an end to segregation laws in the South.”
52. “I have been refused entrance on buses because I would not pay my fare at the front and go around to the rear door to enter.”
53. “My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest…I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.”
54. “From the time I was a child, I tried to protest against disrespectful treatment.”
55. “I talked and talked of everything I know about the white man’s inhuman treatment of the Negro.”
56. “It is always a strain when people are being unjust and unfair, but we must try to be as stress-free as possible.”
57. “I’m really happy to be a living, breathing person, with all of the complications and all of the events that come along.”

Quotes on Society & Change

58. “Change has to come for life to be worthwhile.”
59. “One person can change the world.”
60. “Let us have faith in each other, rather than prejudice and bias, and love, rather than hate.”
61. “A movement begins with a moment.”
62. “I think the actions of the KKK are despicable, but I understand the First Amendment.”
63. “It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made a demand and I just didn’t feel like obeying his demand.”
64. “Getting angry doesn’t solve anything.”
65. “They’ve always held our people hostage because they wanted our support.”
66. “I have learned through the years that in a democracy, there are many means to gain equality.”
67. “Segregation was wrong when I was on that bus… You can’t go back.”
68. “We got to the place where we could not continue to be humiliated over and over again.”
69. “Why do you all push us around?”
70. “Seeing the orderliness of nature, I have gained a greater appreciation of how important it is to live an orderly life.”
71. “It was not spontaneous, it was a conscious decision.”

Quotes on Faith & Hope

72. “I will always work for human rights for all people.”
73. “My faith has been the driving thing of my life. I think it’s important that people understand that I do have faith.”
74. “As I look back on those days, it’s just like a dream, and the only thing that is there is the faith and belief and the strength and the grace of God.”
75. “I was a person with dignity and self-respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black.”
76. “Prayer and faith go hand in hand. I find this to be true in my daily communication with God.”
77. “I was fortunate God blessed me with good parents who from the time I was small taught me to love and respect myself. That made me think I was somebody.”
78. “Have faith in God and yourself and start where you are with what you have.”
79. “I think that walking with the Lord and serving him and doing the things that would be pleasing in his sight were foremost in my mind.”
80. “I’m not concerned with what others think. My focus is on carrying on the fight for freedom and justice.”

Quotes on the Montgomery Bus Boycott

81. “I had no idea just what my actions would bring about. At the time I was arrested I didn’t know how the community would react.”
82. “When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.”
83. “There had to be a stopping place, and this seemed to have been the place for me to stop being pushed around.”
84. “Since it had to happen, I’m glad it happened to a person like me, who was not going to let it pass without letting the world know.”
85. “I didn’t want to pay my fare and then go around the back door, because many times, even if you did that, you might not get on the bus at all. They’d probably shut the door, drive off, and leave you standing there.”
86. “I was thinking that the only way to let them know I felt I was being mistreated was to do just what I did—resist the order.”
87. “I did not get on the bus to get arrested; I got on the bus to go home.”
88. “I felt that, if I did stand up, it meant that I approved of the way I was being treated, and I did not approve.”

Legacy & Reflection

89. “I hope for a better tomorrow, where our children can live in peace and harmony with others who may not look like themselves.”
90. “Each generation needs to continue the struggle.”
91. “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could all be free to be ourselves without judgement, persecution, or condemnation?”
92. “Hate can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that.”
93. “If I can sit down for freedom, you can stand up for children.”
94. “I want to be remembered as a person who stood up to injustice.”
95. “I am thankful for the blessings of God, for letting me live past 90 years.”
96. “It pains me that there is still so much misunderstanding about Roe v. Wade and the accompaniment of Doe v. Bolton. It was not about abortion but about the right for me to make my own decisions.”
97. “The real reason of my not standing up was I felt that I had a right to be treated as any other passenger. We had endured that kind of treatment for too long.”
98. I believe in Liberty for all people.”
99. “Bite off more than you can chew, then chew it.”
100. “I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated.”
101. “All I was doing was trying to get home from work.”
102. “In it [my autobiography], I talk about my life, and about the sit-ins and the freedom rides and the beatings and the fear that these young people faced, the same as they did in the South when they were trying to desegregate.”
103. “I had decided that I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors.”
104. “I didn’t want that history and that legacy to die.”
105. “My whole life had been one of feeling that people didn’t want me.”

Final Thoughts

As we reflect on Rosa Parks’s words, we’re reminded that history’s most powerful voices often speak with striking simplicity.

Her quotes reveal a woman who understood that true courage isn’t about grand gestures but about holding firm to one’s principles, even when standing alone.

In a world still grappling with division and inequality, her words offer both challenge and comfort—reminding us that change begins with individual choices to stand for what’s right.

Perhaps the most important lesson from Parks’s quotations is that ordinary people contain extraordinary potential.

Her legacy lives not just in history books but in the everyday decisions we make to honor human dignity and to persist, like Parks, in the quiet, determined pursuit of a more just world.