QuoteProject
Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.
John Lewis
ShareWTF𝕏

Interpretation

What this quote means

The quote challenges the notion that nothing has changed by inviting others to understand different perspectives.

John Lewis emphasizes the importance of experiencing life through others' perspectives to truly grasp the changes that occur in society. By suggesting that one should 'walk in my shoes,' he highlights the idea that the experiences of individuals, especially those who face adversity, can reveal significant societal transformations overlooked by others.

Themes

ChangePerspectiveUnderstandingExperienceAdversity

In practice

Example use cases

During a conversation about social justice, one might share this quote to highlight the importance of acknowledging differing experiences.

More from John Lewis

The March on Washington was a March for Jobs and Freedom. There are still too many people who are unemployed or underemployed in America - they're black, white, Latino, Native American and Asian American.
John LewisRead
The scars and stains of racism are still deeply embedded in the American society.
John LewisRead
Customs, traditions, laws should be flexible, within good reason, if that is what it takes to make our democracy work.
John LewisRead
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 LewisRead
We need someone who is going to stand up, speak up, and speak out for the people who need help, for the people who have been discriminated against.
John LewisRead
If it hadn't been for that march across the Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, there would be no Barack Obama as President of the United States of America.
John LewisRead

Similar quotes

Once you have identified with some form of negativity, you do not want to let it go, and on a deeply unconscious level, you do not want positive change. It would threaten your identity as a depressed, angry or hard-done by person. You will then ignore, deny or sabotage the positive in your life. This is a common phenomenon. It is also insane.
Eckhart TolleRead
'Me Too' became the way to succinctly and powerfully connect with other people and give people permission to start their journey to heal.
Tarana BurkeRead
A populace never rebels from passion for attack, but from impatience of suffering.
Edmund BurkeRead
I think it's harder for people than it should be. But as more and more of us become carbon neutral and change the patterns in our lives to be part of the solution instead of part of the problem, we are now beginning to see the changes in policy that are needed.
Al GoreRead
I believe at the heart of any revolution for social justice and human dignity are consent and agency, the unequivocal belief that I own my body - not the state, not the church/mosque/temple, not the street and not the family.
Mona EltahawyRead
Historical fact: People stopped being people in 1913. That was the year Henry Ford put his cars on rollers and made his workers adopt the speed of the assembly line. At first, workers rebelled. They quit in droves, unable to accustom their bodies to the new pace of the age. Since then, however, the adaptation has been passed down: we've all inherited it to some degree, so that we plug right into joy-sticks and remotes, to repetitive motions of a hundred kinds.
Jeffrey EugenidesRead

A little wisdom, now and then

Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.

Quote by John Lewis | QuoteProject