Activist quotes

Empowering individuals who stand up for what they believe in and strive to create positive change in the world. Inspirational quotes from passionate activists.

The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.

- Nelson Mandela

Resentment is like drinking poison and then hoping it will kill your enemies.

- Nelson Mandela

One cannot be prepared for something while secretly believing it will not happen.

- Nelson Mandela

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

- Nelson Mandela

Money won’t create success, the freedom to make it will.

- Nelson Mandela

It is what we make out of what we have, not what we are given, that separates one person from another.

- Nelson Mandela

It is said that no one truly knows a nation until one has been inside its jails. A nation should not be judged by how it treats its highest citizens, but its lowest ones.

- Nelson Mandela

It is not where you start but how high you aim that matters for success.

- Nelson Mandela

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

- Nelson Mandela

I have always believed exercise is a key not only to physical health but to peace of mind.

- Nelson Mandela

Great peacemakers are all people of integrity, of honesty, but humility.

- Nelson Mandela

Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world.

- Nelson Mandela

Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.

- Nelson Mandela

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.

- Nelson Mandela

As I walked out the door toward the gate that would lead to my freedom, I knew if I didn’t leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.

- Nelson Mandela

As I have said, the first thing is to be honest with yourself. You can never have an impact on society if you have not changed yourself.

- Nelson Mandela

A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.

- Nelson Mandela

A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

- Nelson Mandela

A good head and good heart are always a formidable combination. But when you add to that a literate tongue or pen, then you have something very special.

- Nelson Mandela

People for the most part pass by the loveliest things in life without paying attention.

- Rosa Luxemburg

I feel at home in the entire world, wherever there are clouds and birds and human tears.

- Rosa Luxemburg

Women's freedom is the sign of social freedom.

- Rosa Luxemburg

We will be victorious if we have not forgotten how to learn.

- Rosa Luxemburg

The most revolutionary thing one can do is always to proclaim loudly what is happening.

- Rosa Luxemburg

The most revolutionary act is a clear view of the world as it really is.

- Rosa Luxemburg

It is in the tiny struggles of individual peoples that the great movements of history are most truly revealed.

- Rosa Luxemburg

I want to burden the conscience of the affluent with all the suffering and all the hidden, bitter tears.

- Rosa Luxemburg

I want to affect people like a clap of thunder, to inflame their minds with the breadth of my vision, the strength of my conviction and the power of my expression.

- Rosa Luxemburg

Freedom is always, and exclusively, freedom for the one who thinks differently.

- Rosa Luxemburg

Freedom is always the freedom of the dissenter.

- Rosa Luxemburg