Top 60 Rosa Parks Quotes (2024 Update)

1. “One person can change the world.”

— Rosa Parks

2. “I believe there is only one race – the human race.”

— Rosa Parks

3. “There is no future without education.”

— Rosa Parks

4. “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.”

— Rosa Parks

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5. “Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.”

— Rosa Parks

6. “Without a vision the people perish, but without courage dreams die.”

— Rosa Parks

7. “To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.”

— Rosa Parks

8. “The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

— Rosa Parks

9. “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.”

— Rosa Parks

10. “I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be.”

— Rosa Parks

11. “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.”

— Rosa Parks

12. “Knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

— Rosa Parks

13. “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.”

— Rosa Parks

14. “It takes more than one person to bring about peace – it takes all of us.”

— Rosa Parks

15. “I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.”

— Rosa Parks

16. “Each person must live their life as a model for others.”

— Rosa Parks

17. “I thought of Emmett Till, and when the bus driver ordered me to move to the back, I just couldn’t move.”

— Rosa Parks

18. “Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated.”

— Rosa Parks

19. “It is better to protest than to accept injustice.”

— Rosa Parks

20. “I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.”

— Rosa Parks

21. “I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.”

— Rosa Parks

22. “If you want to be respected for your actions, then your behavior must be above reproach. If our lives demonstrate that we are peaceful, humble, and trusted, this is recognized by others.”

— Rosa Parks

23. “What really matters is not whether we have problems, but how we go through them. We must keep going on to make it through whatever we are facing.”

— Rosa Parks

24. “Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.”

— Rosa Parks

25. “I want to be treated like a human being.”

— Rosa Parks

26. “People always say that I didn’t give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn’t true. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.”

— Rosa Parks

27. “Victory or defeat? It is the slogan of all-powerful militarism in every belligerent nation. And yet, what can victory bring to the proletariat?”

— Rosa Parks

28. “If I can sit down for freedom, you can stand up for children.”

— Rosa Parks

29. “I thought about Emmett Till, and I could not go back. My legs and feet were not hurting, that is a stereotype. I paid the same fare as others, and I felt violated. I was not going back.”

— Rosa Parks

30. “I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day.”

— Rosa Parks

31. “Racial pride and self-dignity were emphasized in my family and community.”

— Rosa Parks

32. “There were times when it would have been easy to fall apart or to go in the opposite direction, but somehow I felt that if I took on more step, someone would come along to join me.”

— Rosa Parks

33. “If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with.”

— Rosa Parks

34. “I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.”

— Rosa Parks

35. “People need to free their minds of racial prejudice and believe in equality for all and freedom regardless of race. It would be a good thing if all people were treated equally and justly and not be discriminated against because of race or religion or anything that makes them different from others.”

— Rosa Parks

36. “Since I have always been a strong believer in God, I knew that He was with me, and only He could get me through that next step.”

— Rosa Parks

37. “Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that.”

— Rosa Parks

38. “I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed. I had decided that I would have to know once and for all what rights I had as a human being and a citizen.”

— Rosa Parks

39. “All I was trying to do was get home from work.”

— Rosa Parks

40. “We didn’t have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next. I remember going to sleep as a girl hearing the Klan ride at night and hearing a lynching and being afraid the house would burn down.”

— Rosa Parks

41. “An opportunity was being given to me to do what I had asked of others.”

— Rosa Parks

42. “I had been pushed as far as I could stand.”

— Rosa Parks

43. “As long as there is unemployment, war, crime and all things that go to the infliction of man’s inhumanity to man, regardless – there is much to be done, and people need to work together.”

— Rosa Parks

44. “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.”

— Rosa Parks

45. “Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.”

— Rosa Parks

46. “I did not get on the bus to get arrested I got on the bus to go home.”

— Rosa Parks

47. “My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work.”

— Rosa Parks

48. “As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.”

— Rosa Parks

49. “There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still. As long as a child needs help, as long as people are not free, there will be work to do. As long as an elderly person is attacked or in need of support, there is work to do. As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do.”

— Rosa Parks

50. “I was determined to achieve the total freedom that our history lessons...”

— Rosa Parks