Coretta Scott King Quotes

Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.

When Good Friday comes, these are the moments in life when we feel there's no hope. But then, Easter comes.

It ain't how long you know somebody that means anything. It's what that person mean to you in your heart.

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood. This sets the stage for further repression and violence that spread all too easily to victimize the next minority group.

I must remind you that starving a child is violence. Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Ignoring medical need is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence.

Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.

If American women increase their voting turnout by ten percent, I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children.

There is a spirit and a need and a man at the beginning of every great human advance. Every one of these must be right for that particular moment in history or nothing happens.

It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.

Drawing on the words of Coretta Scott King, I reminded the audience that freedom must be fought for and won by every generation. "It is the very nature of this fight for civil rights and justice and equality that whatever gains we make, they will not be permanent. So we must be vigilant, " I said.

There comes a time when time itself is ready for a change.

Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find but something that we must create. And so the ability of Negroes and whites to work together, to understand each other, will not be found readymade; it must be created by the fact of contact.

Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don't believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members.

No abundance of material goods can compensate for the death of individuality and personal creativity.

I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called education people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from fiction.

Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism, and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and person hood

I had not given a thought to what a difference it can make when you treat another person with simple respect and dignity, the same respect and dignity you want for yourself. That is so simple, yet so few seem able to do it.

Segmentation was wrong when it was forced by white people, and I believe it is still wrong when it is requested by black people.

Near our old apartment in Auburn, there is a trail of trees called the George Bengtson Historic Tree Trail, named after a white research forester and plant physiologist at the University of Auburn, Alabama. A great man, I’m sure. These trees are grafted from scions of heritage trees. Among the trees planted: Lewis & Clark Osage Orange. Trail of Tears Water Oak. General Jackson Black Walnut. General Robert E. Lee Sweetgum. Southern Baldcypress. Johnny Appleseed Apple Tree. Mark Twain Bur Oak. Lewis & Clark Cottonwood. Helen Keller Southern Magnolia. Amelia Earhart Sugar Maple. Chief Logan American Elm. Lincoln’s Tomb White Oak. John F. Kennedy Crabapple. John James Audubon Japanese Magnolia. No trees are named for Muskogee, the First People who died in the millions during epidemics, displacement, and land raids. Under the buildings and homes and replanted forests are remnants of Muskogee earthwork mounds, temples, and trenches, a complex network of pre-American cities. There is a single scion named for a northern Indian Iroquois, Chief Logan, another for the Trail of Tears, the only nod to the suffering of Indigenous people. There is no mention of Sacajawea, never mind that Lewis and Clark would’ve been lost in the American wilderness without her. George Washington Carver Green Ash is the only scion named after the Black inventor and scientist. No Black or Native women or femmes are named. No mention of a single civil rights leader, which Alabama birthed aplenty: Coretta Scott King, Rosa Parks, Angela Y. Davis. Imagine a Zora Neale Hurston Sweetgum or a Margaret Walker Poplar.

Below, are quotes from one of the most insightful, and cherished, spiritual leaders of our time:  “Women are the ones who can heal this nation” “I question that man has the ability to save himself” “We (as women) are the force that can make the difference between destruction and survival” “Women cannot afford to ignore this opportunity” These are the words of CORETTA SCOTT KING and we can feel grateful that she and Martin have been here when we really needed their example and leadership most. WE Can Feel Blessed, that Coretta, and Martin, were here with us to help open our eyes and share their wonderful Vision of the world with us.  They are still with us today and still serve as shinning examples of so very much of the GOOD that our great nation has represented in the world.  Coretta, and Martin, have shown us all the value that diversity and understanding brings to all of our humanity.  They have contributed so very much good to the entire world for all to see. Coretta, and Martin have shown us all that we must fight for what we know in our heart of hearts is RIGHT! 

Drawing on the words of Coretta Scott King, I reminded the audience that freedom must be fought for and won by every generation.

If you give your life to a cause in which you believe, and if it is right and just, and if your life comes to an end as a result of this, then your life could not have been spent in a more redemptive way.

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate acts of its members.

Revenge and retaliation always perpetuate the cycle of anger, fear and violence.