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" 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. "

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" The civil rights movement was based on faith. Many of us who were participants in this movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. We saw ourselves doing the work of the Almighty. Segregation and racial discrimination were not in keeping with our faith, so we had to do something. "

John Lewis

Faith

Doing

Segregation

" We should be creative, and we should accommodate the needs of every community to open up the democratic process. We should make it easy and accessible for every citizen to participate. "

" Before we went on any protest, whether it was sit-ins or the freedom rides or any march, we prepared ourselves, and we were disciplined. We were committed to the way of peace - the way of non-violence - the way of love - the way of life as the way of living. "

" We come to Selma to be renewed. We come to be inspired. We come to be reminded that we must do the work that justice and equality calls us to do. "

" We must continue to go forward as one people, as brothers and sisters. "

" 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. "

" We had teachers, we had high school principals, we had people teaching in colleges and university in Tuskegee, Alabama. But they were told they failed the so-called literacy test. "

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

" To make it hard, to make it difficult almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not in keeping with the democratic process. "

" 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 studied the philosophy and the discipline of non-violence in Nashville as a student. And I staged a sitting-in in the fall of 1959 and got arrested the first time in February 1960. "

" The government, both state and federal, has a duty to be reasonable and accommodating. "

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

" 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

" In 1965, the attempted march from Selma to Montgomery on March 7 was planned to dramatize to the state of Alabama and to the nation that people of color wanted to register to vote. "

" Now we have black and white elected officials working together. Today, we have gone beyond just passing laws. Now we have to create a sense that we are one community, one family. Really, we are the American family. "

" 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. "

" 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.' "

" Early on, I wrote a letter to the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. I was 17. I felt called, moved. "

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

" It's not just Barack Obama, but I doubt Jimmy Carter or Bill Clinton would have made it to the White House without Selma. "

" It was not enough to come and listen to a great sermon or message every Sunday morning and be confined to those four walls and those four corners. You had to get out and do something. "

" Too many people struggled, suffered, and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote. "

" The action of Rosa Parks, the words and leadership of Dr. King inspired me. I was deeply inspired. I wanted to do something. "

John Lewis

Words

Action

" 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.' "

" I believe that you see something that you want to get done, you cannot give up, and you cannot give in. "

" We are one people with one family. We all live in the same house... and through books, through information, we must find a way to say to people that we must lay down the burden of hate. For hate is too heavy a burden to bear. "

" I believe in forgiveness; I believe in trying to work with people. "

" Not one of us can rest, be happy, be at home, be at peace with ourselves, until we end hatred and division. "

" Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be - you get out and push and you pull and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of good will in power to act. "