Salvation for a race, nation or class must come from within. Freedom is never granted; it is won. Justice is never given; it is exacted.
A. Philip RandolphRead
Justice is never given; it is exacted.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Justice must be pursued actively rather than passively waiting for it to be granted.
This quote emphasizes the idea that justice is not something that is freely provided; instead, it must be pursued and demanded by those seeking it. A. Philip Randolph underscores the necessity of action and activism in the fight for justice, implying that individuals and communities must work hard to achieve fairness and equity rather than relying on others to bestow it upon them.
Themes
JusticeActionDemandEquityActivism
In practice
Example use cases
In a speech advocating for civil rights, one might say, 'Justice is never given; it is exacted, and we must fight for our rights.'
More from A. Philip Randolph
All quotes βWe must develop huge demonstrations, because the world is used to big dramatic affairs. They think in terms of hundreds of thousands and millions and billions... Billions of dollars are appropriated at the twinkling of an eye. Nothing little counts.
A. Philip RandolphRead
Negroes are in no mood to shoulder guns for democracy abroad while they are denied democracy here at home.
A. Philip RandolphRead
Since almost all Negroes are workers, live on wages, and suffer from the high cost of food, clothing and shelter, it is obvious that the Republican and Democratic Parties are opposed to their interests.
A. Philip RandolphRead
Negroes must be free in order to be equal, and they must be equal in order to be free... Men cannot win freedom unless they win equality. They cannot win equality unless they win freedom.
A. Philip RandolphRead
If someone tried to deprive you of your rights, you've got to resist it. You've got to resent it. You've got to fight against it.
A. Philip RandolphRead
Similar quotes
If you ask me what is at the core of what I write, it isn't about 'rights', it's about justice. Justice is a grand, beautiful, revolutionary idea.
Arundhati RoyRead
It cannot bring back and make whole those who suffered and died by a racist's criminal hand. But it can at least reaffirm our nation's commitment to seek the truth and make equal justice a reality.
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The love of justice and the love of country plead equally the cause of these people, and it is a moral reproach to us that they should have pleaded it so long in vain.
Thomas JeffersonRead
An act of justice closes the book on a misdeed; an act of vengeance writes one of its own
Marilyn Vos SavantRead
Rejecting the fundamental provision of the Civil Rights Act is a rejection of the foundational promise of America that all men and women should be treated equally, a promise for which many Americans have lost their lives.
John YarmuthRead
A jury too often has at least one member more ready to hang the panel than to hang the traitor.
Abraham LincolnRead