These are some of my favorite quotes from historical figures and other writers.
Tell me, what is it you plan to do
with your one wild and precious life?
- Mary Oliver, "The Summer Day"
For there is always light,
if only we’re brave enough to see it
If only we’re brave enough to be it
– Amanda Gorman, "The Hill We Climb"
“I desire you would Remember the Ladies, and be more generous and favourable to them than your ancestors. Do not put such unlimited power into the hands of the Husbands. Remember all Men would be tyrants if they could. If perticuliar care and attention is not paid to the Laidies we are determined to foment a Rebelion, and will not hold ourselves bound by any Laws in which we have no voice, or Representation.” – Abigail Adams
“The American war is over: but this is far from being the case with the American revolution.” – Benjamin Rush
“If we mean to have Heroes, Statesmen and Philosophers, we should have learned women.” – Abigail Adams
“Learning is not attained by chance; it must be sought for with ardor and attended to with diligence.” – Abigail Adams
“A concern for the welfare of society ought equally to glow in every human heart.” – Mercy Otis Warren
“No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
“The past is never dead; it’s not even past.” – William Faulkner
“How wonderful it is that nobody need wait a single moment before starting to improve the world.” – Anne Frank
“We realize the importance of our voices only when we are silenced.” – Malala Yousafzai
“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead
“Courage doesn’t always roar. Sometimes courage is the quiet voice at the end of the day saying, “I will try again tomorrow.” – Mary Anne Radmacher, Author and Artist
“You may encounter many defeats, but you must not be defeated. In fact, it may be necessary to encounter the defeats, so you can know who you are, what you can rise from, how you can still come out of it.” – Maya Angelou
“The great force of history comes from the fact that we carry it within us, are unconsciously controlled by it in many ways, and history is literally present in all that we do. It could scarcely be otherwise, since it is to history that we owe our frames of reference, our identities, and our aspirations.” – James Baldwin
““If history were taught in the form of stories, it would never be forgotten.” – Rudyard Kipling
“You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.” – Rosa Parks
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.–That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness.” – Declaration of Independence