"Silence is not neutral."

"As an adult, you are responsible for what you do know. . .and for what you DON'T know."

"If you can't tolerate it for yourself, how can you tolerate it for others?"

"Not to know is bad; not wishing to know is worse." - Nigerian proverb

"Unless we change direction, we're likely to end up where we're headed." - Chinese proverb

"It's better to light a candle than to curse the darkness." ~ Eleanor Roosevelt

"And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give others permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others."
~ Marianne Williamson (often attributed to Nelson Mandela because he used it in a speech)

"You may never know what results come from your action,
but if you do nothing, there will be no result." ~ Gandhi

"If you can accept your differentness and learn to love it and encourage it,
then you can be someone wonderful." ~ Bette Midler

"This we know, the earth does not belong to man; man belongs to earth. This we know. All things are connected like the blood which unites one family. So hold in your mind the memory on the land as it is when you take it. And, with all your strength, with all your mind, and with all your heart..." ~ Chief Seattle

"Each time a [person] stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others... he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, those ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance." ~ Robert F. Kennedy

"I used to have a fake Louis Vuitton bag because I thought it meant something in life.
But now I realize that all the things in the world don't define you. It's what you stand for,
what you're willing to do, how close to the truth you're willing to be in your life." ~ Oprah Winfrey

"When one door of happiness closes another opens; but often we look so long at the closed door
that we do not see the one which has been opened to us." ~ Helen Keller

"To keep a lamp burning we have to keep putting oil in it." ~ Mother Teresa

"If you want to see the brave look at those who can forgive." ~ Bhagavad Gita

First they came for the Jews and I did not speak out-
because I was not a Jew.
Then they came for the communists and I did not speak out-
because I was not a communist.
Then they came for the trade unionists and I did not speak out-
because I was not a trade unionist.
Then they came for me-
and there was no one left to speak out for me.
~ Pastor Martin Niemoller (victim of the Nazis)

"When I dare to be powerful - to use my strength in the service of my vision,
then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid." ~ Audre Lorde

"Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world;
indeed, it's the only thing that ever does." ~ Margaret Mead

"I want to be treated like a human being." ~ Rosa Parks

"If we are to achieve a richer culture, rich in contrasting values, we must recognize
the whole gamut of human potentialities, and so weave a less arbitrary social fabric,
one in which each diverse human gift will find a fitting place."
~ Margaret Mead, 1901-1978, American Anthropologist

The more I traveled the more I realized that fear makes strangers of people who should be friends." ~ Shirley MacLaine

"The greatest gift you give to the universe is being who you really are." ~ Stephan C. Paul

"Give light and the darkness will disappear of itself." ~ Desiderius Erasmus

"If you believe in freedom, what are you wiling to do?" ~ Marcia Ann Gillespie

"Some problems are just too complicated for rational, logical solutions." ~ Jerome Wiesner

"Money and power can liberate only if they are used to do so.
They can imprison and inhibit more finally than barred windows and iron chains." ~ Maya Angelou

"We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now." ~ Martin Luther King

"I keep my ideals, because in spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." ~ Anne Frank