Rosa Parks was a pivotal figure in the American civil rights movement, best known for her courageous refusal to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955.
This single act of defiance sparked the Montgomery Bus Boycott and became a powerful symbol of resistance to racial segregation. Rosa Parks’ bravery inspired generations to stand up against injustice and fight for equality.
Her legacy continues to influence civil rights activism around the world. Learning about Rosa Parks helps us understand the importance of courage, dignity, and determination in the face of discrimination and inequality.
Related: Intimacy Quotes for Him and Her To Improve Any Relationship
Table of Contents
Today Rosa Parks Quotes ideas
“I had decided that I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors. I had made that decision myself, as an individual.” — Rosa Parks
“Never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” ― Rosa Parks
“Why do you all push us around?” — Rosa Parks
“I am proud to be an American. America is a wonderful country.” — Rosa Parks
“I will always work for human rights for all people.” — Rosa Parks
“We had a saying that we worked “from can to can’t,” which means working from when you can see (sunup) to when you can’t (sundown).” — Rosa Parks
“Whatever my individual desires were to be free, I was not alone. There were many others who felt the same way.” — Rosa Parks
“It was just a matter of survivalーlike getting off the roadーso we could exist form day to day.” — Rosa Parks
“At the time I was arrested I had no idea it would turn into this. It was just a day like any other day. The only thing that made it significant was that the masses of the people joined in.” — Rosa Parks
“All I was doing was trying to get home from work.” — Rosa Parks
“I had given up my seat before, but this day, I was especially tired. Tired from my work as a seamstress, and tired from the ache in my heart.” — Rosa Parks
“I would like to be remembered as a person who wanted to be free… so other people would be also free.” — Rosa Parks
“When that white driver stepped back toward us, when he waved his hand and ordered us up and out of our seats, I felt a determination cover my body like a quilt on a winter night.” — Rosa Parks
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” — Rosa Parks
“At the time i didn’t realize why there was so much Klan activity, but later I learned that it was because African-American soldiers werre returning from World War Iasn acting as if they deserved equal rights because they had served their country.” — Rosa Parks
“There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take… The line between reason and madness grows thinner.” — Rosa Parks
“That was a difference between black slaves and white indentured servants. Black slaves were usually not allowed to keep their names, but were given new names by their owners.” — Rosa Parks
“God has always given me the strength to say what is right.” — Rosa Parks
“Even when there was segregation there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us.” — Rosa Parks
“Let us look at Jim Crow for the criminal he is and what he has done to one life multiplied millions of times over these United States and the world. He walks us on a tightrope from birth.” — Rosa Parks
Best Rosa Parks Famous Quotes
“As a child I learned from the Bible to trust in God and not be afraid. And I felt the Lord would give me the strength to endure whatever I had to face. God did away with all my fear.” — Rosa Parks
“I talked and talked of everything I know about the white man’s inhuman treatment of the Negro.” — Rosa Parks
“I had felt for a long time, that if I was ever told to get up so a white person could sit, that I would refuse to do so.” — Rosa Parks
“Black women are very capable of leading our organizations. I believe that firmly.” — Rosa Parks
“It was not pre-arranged. It just happened that the driver made a demand and I just didn’t feel like obeying his demand. I was quite tired after spending a full day working.” — Rosa Parks
“Time begins the healing process of wounds cut deeply by oppression. We soothe ourselves with the salve of attempted indifference, accepting the false pattern set up by the horrible restriction of Jim Crow laws.” — Rosa Parks
“I was ready to die but give my consent never. Never, never.” — Rosa Parks
“Whites would accuse you of causing trouble when all you were doing was acting like a normal human being instead of cringing.” — Rosa Parks
“When people made up their minds that they wanted to be free and took action, then there was a change.” — Rosa Parks
“You cannot always control the powers-that-be. You just have to have faith and stand by the things you believe in.” — Rosa Parks
“What I learned best at Miss White’s school was that I was a person with dignity and self-respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black.” — Rosa Parks
“As far back as I can remember, I knew there was something wrong with our way of life when people could be mistreated because of the color of their skin.” — Rosa Parks
“I was determined to achieve the total freedom that our history lessons…” — Rosa Parks
“The Rosa and Raymond Parks Institute accepts people of any race. We don’t discriminate against anyone. We teach people to reach their highest potential. I set examples by the way I lead my life.” — Rosa Parks
“As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.” — Rosa Parks
“My resisting being mistreated on the bus did not begin with that particular arrest…I did a lot of walking in Montgomery.” — Rosa Parks
“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.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“The time had just come when I had been pushed as far as I could stand to be pushed, I suppose.” — Rosa Parks
“My only concern was to get home after a hard day’s work.” — Rosa Parks
Short Quotes from Rosa Parks
“It is better to teach or live equality and love… Than to have hatred and prejudice.” — Rosa Parks
“I did not get on the bus to get arrested I got on the bus to go home.” — Rosa Parks
“There was an opportunity for me to take a stand.” — Rosa Parks
“Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.” — Rosa Parks
“Our freedom is threatened every time one of our young people is killed by another child… every time a person gets stopped and beaten by the police because of the color of their skin.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“We are not in a struggle of black against white, but wrong and right, right against wrong.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“I was just trying to let them know how I felt about being treated as a human being.” — Rosa Parks
“I had been pushed as far as I could stand.” — Rosa Parks
“From the time I was a child, I tried to protest against disrespectful treatment.” — Rosa Parks
“An opportunity was being given to me to do what I had asked of others.” — Rosa Parks
“People need to free their minds of all racial prejudice.” — Rosa Parks
“We didn’t have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“The bus was among the first ways I realized there was a black world and a white world.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“Without vision, people perish, and without courage and inspiration dreams die.” — Rosa Parks
“Arrest me for sitting on a bus? You may do that.” — Rosa Parks
“We still, today, have a long way to go, and we have to continue our work.” — Rosa Parks
Simple Quotes About Rosa Parks
“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
“I am leaving this legacy to all of you… to bring peace, justice, equality, love, and a fulfillment of what our lives should be.” — Rosa Parks
“I knew someone had to take the first step and I made up my mind not to move.” — Rosa Parks
“This is not a sectional issue. Difficulties over segregation and discrimination exist in every city, in every State of the Union, producing in many cities a rising tide of discontent that threatens the public safety.” — Rosa Parks
“Racial pride and self-dignity were emphasized in my family and community.” — Rosa Parks
“I don’t think well of people who are prejudiced against people because of race. The only way for prejudiced people to change is for them to decide for themselves that all human beings should be treated fairly. We can’t force them to think that way.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“The greatness of our democracy is in its ability to treat everyone, including women, equally under the law.” — Rosa Parks
“If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with.” — Rosa Parks
“I am leaving this legacy to all of you… to bring peace, justice, equality, love, and a fulfillment of what our lives should be.” — Rosa Parks
“All I was trying to do was get home from work.” — Rosa Parks
“Without vision, people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die – the dream of freedom and peace.” — Rosa Parks
“I do the very best I can to look upon life with optimism and hope and looking forward to a better day.” — Rosa Parks
“What really matters is that we can all be free and that we can have respect and that we can all be treated as individuals with that freedom all combined as we go along through life.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“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
“If I can sit down for freedom, you can stand up for children.” — Rosa Parks
“Memories of our lives, of our works and our deeds will continue in others.” — Rosa Parks
New Rosa Parks Best Quotes
“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
“I want to be treated like a human being.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“I’m tired of being treated like a second-class citizen.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“It is better to protest than to accept injustice.” — Rosa Parks
“I thought of Emmett Till, and when the bus driver ordered me to move to the back, I just couldn’t move.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“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
“Knowing what must be done does away with fear.” — Rosa Parks
“I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.” — Rosa Parks
“Each person must live their life as a model for others.” — Rosa Parks
“It takes more than one person to bring about peace – it takes all of us.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“The only tired I was, was tired of giving in.” — Rosa Parks
“To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try.” — Rosa Parks
“Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.” — Rosa Parks
“Without a vision the people perish, but without courage dreams die.” — Rosa Parks
“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
“There is no future without education.” — Rosa Parks
“I believe there is only one race – the human race.” — Rosa Parks
“One person can change the world.” — Rosa Parks
Thank you for reading about rosa parks quotes. I hope you like it! Want to find out more about TodayQuote? Head over to our home page to see what we’re all about.