As the NAACP reported, Rosa Parks was in charge of the youth division at the Montgomery branch of the NAACP at the time. She has said that she was inspired to act because of 14-year-old Emmett Till’s brutal lynching in August 1955. Even though many of us were taught that Parks was immensely tired that day, it was a planned act of resistance, one that others before Parks had already done. As the National Women’s History Museum wrote, Parks has said that she didn’t give up her seat because she was tired, nor was it because she was old (she was only 42). “No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in,” she said.
Today’s quote is basically the epitome of Parks’s attitude toward revolutionizing a broken system and transforming things for the better. It also reminds us that not even trying to do any of that is a failure in itself.
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Quote of the Day by Rosa Parks
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This quote comes from Dear Mrs. Parks: A Dialogue with Today's Youth, a 1996 book that is a collection of children’s letters to Parks and her responses. The popular version is worded a bit differently—“To bring about change, you must not be afraid to take the first step. We will fail when we fail to try,"—but according to the source material, the above wording is actually what Parks said.
Parks goes on to say that Dr. King’s dream is “still very much alive in America and in the world,” though it’s not “completed.” She writes that, despite his and other civil rights leaders and activists’ efforts, discrimination and inequality are still issues in the country. But despite that, she’s not discouraged from fighting and “pushing ahead.”
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A lot of us are scared of missing the mark or failing before we even try, which is understandable. But Rosa Parks’s words ring true here; if you never try, you, of course, won’t be unsuccessful, per se, but you’re failing anyway by not making any progress.
Related: Quote of the Day: Psychologist B.F. Skinner on Perseverance, Reframing and Never Giving Up
More Quotes from Rosa Parks
“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.”“As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.”“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.”“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.”“Stand for something or you will fall for anything. Today’s mighty oak is yesterday’s nut that held its ground.”“It is better to teach or live equality and love ... than to have hatred and prejudice.”Related: Quote of the Day: Political Activist Angela Davis on Uplifting Others as We Succeed
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