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" MLK, Jr. taught me how to say no to segregation, and I can hear him saying now... when you straighten up your back, no man can ride you. He said stand up straight and say no to racial discrimination. "

John Lewis

Saying

Man

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" The press is supposed to serve as a check on government. "

" A few days after Bloody Sunday, there was demonstration in more than 80 American cities. People were demanding that the government act. "

" When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just, you have to speak up. You have to say something; you have to do something. "

" If you ask me whether the election of Barack Obama is the fulfillment of Dr. King's dream, I say, 'No, it's just a down payment.' "

" Black men and women were not allowed to register to vote. My own mother, my own father, my grandfather and my uncles and aunts could not register to vote because each time they attempted to register to vote, they were told they could not pass the literacy test. "

" If you're not hopeful and optimistic, then you just give up. You have to take the long hard look and just believe that if you're consistent, you will succeed. "

" There is a need for a movement of non-violent direct action. "

" I was so inspired by Dr. King that in 1956, with some of my brothers and sisters and first cousins - I was only 16 years old - we went down to the public library trying to check out some books, and we were told by the librarian that the library was for whites only and not for colors. It was a public library. "

" Listening to Dr. King on the radio inspired me. Coming under the influence of Jim Lawson inspired me to think that I, too, could do something. "

" The assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. made me very, very sad, and I mourned and I cried like many of our citizens did. "

John Lewis

Made

" Some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process. "

" I am very, very hopeful about the American South - I believe that we will lead America to what Dr. King called 'the beloved community.' "

" Without prayer, without faith in the Almighty, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings. "

John Lewis

Prayer

Bird

" Reading the Martin Luther King story, that little comic book, set me on the path that I'm on today. "

" What I try to tell young people is that if you come together with a mission, and its grounded with love and a sense of community, you can make the impossible possible. "

" You have to be persistent. "

John Lewis

Persistent

You

" We are one people; we are only family. And when we finally accept these truths, then we will be able to fulfill Dr. King's dream to build a beloved community, a nation, and a world at peace with itself. "

" I think Dr. King would be pleased to see the number of elected officials of color - African Americans, Latinos, Asian Americans, and progressive whites. "

" When you make mistakes, when you're wrong, you should admit you're wrong and ask people to forgive you. "

" Dr. King was one of the most inspiring human beings I ever met. He was such a warm, compassionate, and loving human being. "

" I never praised Mr. Snowden or said his actions rise to those of Mohandas Gandhi or other civil rights leaders. "

" I remember back in the 1960s - late '50s, really - reading a comic book called 'Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story.' Fourteen pages. It sold for 10 cents. And this little book inspired me to attend non-violence workshops, to study about Gandhi, about Thoreau, to study Martin Luther King, Jr., to study civil disobedience. "

" I think President Barack Obama has been a good president. "

" When I was 15 years old in 1955, I heard of Rosa Parks. I heard the words of Martin Luther King, Jr. on our radio. "

" There may be some difficulties, some interruptions, but as a nation and as a people, we are going to build a truly multiracial, democratic society that maybe can emerge as a model for the rest of the world. "

" Many young people, many children, are being abused, being put down, being bullied because of their sexual orientation. "

" There's nothing wrong with a little agitation for what's right or what's fair. "

" Never become bitter, and in the process, be happy and just go for it. "

John Lewis

Go For It

Happy

" There are still forces in America that want to divide us along racial lines, religious lines, sex, class. But we've come too far; we've made too much progress to stop or to pull back. We must go forward. And I believe we will get there. "

" Without our faith, we wouldn't have been able to succeed. On many occasions, before we'd go out on a sit-in, before we went on the freedom ride, before we marched from Selma to Montgomery, we would sing a song or say a prayer. Without our faith, without the spirit and spiritual bearings and underpinning, we would not have been so successful. "