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
We 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.
Interpretation
What this quote means
Large-scale action is necessary to drive significant change in society.
This quote emphasizes the importance of grand gestures and large demonstrations in order to capture public attention and effect societal change. A. Philip Randolph suggests that in a world where huge sums of money and resources are allocated quickly and often without much thought, smaller efforts may not be taken seriously, thus calling for larger, more visible movements to advocate for important causes.
Themes
DemonstrationChangeSocietyAttentionActivismImpact
In practice
Example use cases
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for social justice movements to encourage large participation.
More from A. Philip Randolph
All quotes →Negroes are in no mood to shoulder guns for democracy abroad while they are denied democracy here at home.
A. Philip RandolphRead
Justice is never given; it is exacted.
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
The burdens of generations of poverty and powerlessness lie heavy in the fields of America. If we fail, there are those who will see violence as the shortcut to change.
Cesar ChavezRead
After winter comes the summer. After night comes the dawn. And after every storm, there comes clear, open skies.
Samuel RutherfordRead
A revolution resembles the death of a fading star, an exhilarating Technicolor explosion that gives way not to an ordered new galaxy but to a nebula, a formless cloud of shifting energy.
Simon Sebag-MontefioreRead
Trump's election could be a blessing in disguise. This is the opportunity for America to correct itself.
Bernice KingRead
I am only a child. Yet I know that if all the money spent on war was spent on ending poverty and finding environmental answers, what a wonderful place this would be.
Severn Cullis-SuzukiRead
Your life changes the moment you make a new, congruent, and committed decision.
Tony RobbinsRead