John Lewis

February 21, 1940 - July 17, 2020

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.

John Lewis

The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We may not have chosen the time, but the time has chosen us.

John Lewis

Sensible people have got to work together.

John Lewis

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

In spite of all of the things, the issues, that we may be confronting today, I'm very hopeful, very optimistic about the future.

John Lewis

Never give up. Never give in. Never become hostile... Hate is too big a burden to bear.

John Lewis

We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jails over and over again. And then you holler, 'Be patient.' How long can we be patient?

John Lewis

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?' 

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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.

John Lewis

We need some creative tension; people crying out for the things they want.

John Lewis

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. 

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

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

John Lewis

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

John Lewis

Today, we have come a distance. We have made a lot of progress. That cannot be denied. You cannot dispute the fact that our country is so different from 50 years ago. But we still have problems. There are too many people that have been left out and left behind, and they are African American, they are White, Latino, Asian American, and Native American.

John Lewis

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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.'

John Lewis

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We built a coalition of conscience, and that we can do it again, and we can go forward, and help redeem the soul of America.

John Lewis

I think right now, the focus has got to be on how we hold [Donald] Trump accountable.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

A lie cannot live.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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

John Lewis

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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

John Lewis

Our struggle is a struggle to redeem the soul of America. It's not a struggle that lasts for a few days, a few weeks, a few months, or a few years. It is the struggle of a lifetime, more than one lifetime.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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

John Lewis

We must use time creatively.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I'm very hopeful. I am very optimistic about the future.

John Lewis

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

We need someone who is going to stand up, speak up, and speak out for the people who need help, for the people who have been discriminated against.

John Lewis

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

You must be bold, brave, and courageous and find a way... to get in the way.

John Lewis

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Sometimes I hear people saying, 'Nothing has changed.' Come and walk in my shoes.

John Lewis

A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble.

John Lewis

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

John Lewis

We all live in the same house, we all must be part of the effort to hold down our little house. When you see something that is not right, not fair, not just... do something about it. Say something. Have the courage. Have the backbone. Get in the way. Walk with the wind. It's all going to work out.

John Lewis

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

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

John Lewis

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.

John Lewis

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. 

John Lewis

We're one people, and we all live in the same house. Not the American house, but the world house.

John Lewis

On March 7, 1965, then-25-year-old activist John Lewis led over 600 marchers across the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama and faced brutal attacks by oncoming state troopers, footage of the violence collectively shocked the nation and galvanized the fight against racial injustice.

For more of this story, click here.

On Sunday, July 26, 2020, in a deeply symbolic tribute, a lone caisson drawn by two black horses, slowly carried the body of John Lewis across the Edmund Pettus Bridge. To view a short clip of John Lewis' final crossing, click here.