Malcolm X: Trending quotes (page 5)

“Don't be bitter. Remember Lot's wife when they kill me, and they surely will. You have to use all of your energy to do what it is you have to do. [To his wife Betty Shabazz]”

Malcolm X

“We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. The rock was landed on us.”

Malcolm X

Speech at Founding Rally http://www.panafricanperspective.com/mxoaaufounding.html of the Organization of Afro-American Unity (28 June 1964)
Context: We are African, and we happened to be in America. We're not American. We are people who formerly were Africans who were kidnapped and brought to America. Our forefathers weren't the Pilgrims. We didn't land on Plymouth Rock. The rock was landed on us. We were brought here against our will. We were not brought here to be made citizens. We were not brought here to enjoy the constitutional gifts that they speak so beautifully about today.

“I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate.”

Malcolm X

The Ballot or the Bullet (1964), Speech in Cleveland, Ohio (April 3, 1964)
Context: I'm not going to sit at your table and watch you eat, with nothing on my plate, and call myself a diner. Sitting at the table doesn't make you a diner, unless you eat some of what's on that plate. Being here in America doesn't make you an American. Being born here in America doesn't make you an American. Why, if birth made you American, you wouldn't need any legislation; you wouldn't need any amendments to the Constitution; you wouldn't be faced with civil-rights filibustering in Washington, D. C., right now.

“Only the mistakes were mine.”

Malcolm X

“I imagine that one of the biggest troubles with colleges is there are too many distractions, too much panty-raiding, fraternities, and boola-boola and all of that.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Imagination

“You can't have capitalism without racism.”

Malcolm X

“Read absolutely everything you get your hands on because you'll never know where you'll get an idea from…”

Malcolm X

Source: Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements

Idea , Reading

“They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.”

Malcolm X

Malcolm X on Zionism (1964)

Bird , Flying

“Times change so quickly that if you and I don't keep up with the times, we'll find ourselves with an umbrella in our hand, over our head, when the sun is out. Or we'll find ourselves standing in the rain, with the umbrella inside the door.”

Malcolm X

Change , Time , Sun

“I saw all races, all colors, blue eyed blonds to black skinned Africans in true brotherhood! In unity! Living as one! Worshiping as one! No segregationists, no liberals; they would not have known how to interpret the meaning of those words”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Color

“There is no better than adversity. Every defeat, every heartbreak, every loss, contains its own seed, its own lesson on how to improve your performance next time.”

Malcolm X

Heartbreaking , Powerful , Loss , Time

“If you dont stand for something you fall for everything.”

Malcolm X

“One day, may we all meet together in the light of understanding.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Understanding , Light

“It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Freedom

“True Islam taught me that it takes all of the religious, political, economic, psychological, and racial ingredients, or characteristics, to make the Human Family and the Human Society complete.”

Malcolm X

Family

“I for one believe that if you give people a thorough understanding of what confronts them and the basic causes that produce it, they'll create their own program, and when the people create a program, you get action.”

Malcolm X

People , Understanding

“There is nothing in our book, the Qur'an, that teaches us to suffer peacefully. Our religion teaches us to be intelligent. Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone lays a hand on you, send him to the cemetery. That's a good religion.”

Malcolm X

November 10, 1963
This was said before Malcolm X left the Nation of Islam and as he himself stated, before he truly understood Islam.
Malcolm X Speaks (1965)

Books , Peace , Religion , Law

“Anytime you find someone more successful than you are, especially when you're both engaged in the same business - you know they're doing something that you aren't.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Business , Success

“Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.”

Malcolm X

Variant: Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If you're a man, you take it.
Source: Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements
Source: Malcolm X Speaks (1965), p. 111

Justice , Freedom

“Don't condemn if you see a person has a dirty glass of water, just show them the clean glass of water that you have. When they inspect it, you won't have to say that yours is better."
-said by Elijah Muhammad to Malcolm X”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Water , Personality