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Malcolm X Quotes
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Malcolm X was an African-American Muslim minister and human rights activist. To his admirers he was a courageous advocate for the rights of blacks, a man who indicted white America in the harshest terms for its crimes against black Americans; detractors accused him of preaching racism and violence. He has been called one of the greatest and most influential African Americans in history.

His father was killed when he was six and his mother was placed in a mental hospital when he was thirteen, after which he lived in a series of foster homes. In 1946, at age twenty, he went to prison for larceny and breaking and entering. While in prison, he became a member of the Nation of Islam , changing his birth name Malcolm Little to Malcolm X because, he later wrote, Little was the name that "the white slavemaster ... had imposed upon my paternal forebears." After his parole in 1952 he quickly rose to become one of the organization's most influential leader, serving as the public face of the controversial group for a dozen years. In his autobiography, Malcolm X wrote proudly of some of the social achievements the Nation made while he was a member, particularly its free drug rehabilitation program. The Nation promoted black supremacy, advocated the separation of black and white Americans, and rejected the civil rights movement for its emphasis on integration.

By March 1964, Malcolm X had grown disillusioned with the Nation of Islam and its leader Elijah Muhammad. Expressing many regrets about his time with them, which he had come to regard as largely wasted, he embraced Sunni Islam. After a period of travel in Africa and the Middle East, which included completing the Hajj, he also became known as el-Hajj Malik el-Shabazz. He repudiated the Nation of Islam, disavowed racism and founded Muslim Mosque, Inc. and the Organization of Afro-American Unity. He continued to emphasize Pan-Africanism, black self-determination, and black self-defense.

On February 21, 1965, he was assassinated by three members of the Nation of Islam.

✵ 19. May 1925 – 21. February 1965   •   Other names Malcolm Little
Malcolm X photo
Malcolm X: 180   quotes 229   likes

Malcolm X Quotes

“Truth is on the side of the oppressed.”

Malcolm X
Truth

“If you're not ready to die for it, take the word "freedom" out of your vocabulary.”

Malcolm X

Chicago Defender (28 November 1962).
Attributed
Variant: It’ll be liberty or it’ll be death. And if you’re not ready to pay that price don’t use the word freedom in your vocabulary.

Freedom

“I have no mercy or compassion in me for a society that will crush people, and then penalize them for not being able to stand up under the weight.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X
Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), p. 22

People

“We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.”

Malcolm X

Malcolm X: The Man and his Times, edited by John Henrik Clarke and published by Africa World Press in 1990, p. 304 http://books.google.de/books?id=43NsDThPEzgC&q=We+need+more+light+about+each+other.+Light,+creates+understanding,+understanding+creates+love,+love+creates+patience,+and+patience+creates+unity.+Once+we+have+more+knowledge+(light)+about+each+other,+we+will+stop+condemning+each+other+and+a+United+front+will+be+brought+about&dq=We+need+more+light+about+each+other.+Light,+creates+understanding,+understanding+creates+love,+love+creates+patience,+and+patience+creates+unity.+Once+we+have+more+knowledge+(light)+about+each+other,+we+will+stop+condemning+each+other+and+a+United+front+will+be+brought+about&hl=de&sa=X&ei=RhSgT_XXCsHVtAaW_sGlAQ&ved=0CDIQ6AEwAA
Context: Ignorance of each other is what has made unity impossible in the past. Therefore we need enlightenment. We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity. Once we have more knowledge (light) about each other, we will stop condemning each other and a United front will be brought about.

Love , Understanding , Light , Patience

“The ability to read awoke inside of me some long dormant craving to be mentally alive.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Reading

“Don't be in such a hurry to condemn a person because he doesn't do what you do, or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn't know what you know today.”

Malcolm X

Quoted by Maya Angelou (quote reproduced in James L. Conyers, Andrew P. Smallwood, Malcolm X: A Historical Reader, Carolina Academic Press, 2008, p. 181 and Elaine Slivinski Lisandrelli, Maya Angelou: More than a poet, Enslow Publishers, 1996, p. 90)
Attributed

Thinking , Time , Personality

“Why am I as I am? To understand that of any person, his whole life, from
Birth must be reviewed. All of our experiences fuse into our personality. Everything that ever happened to us is an ingredient.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Life , Birth , Understanding , Personality

“Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth. And any time any one violates your human rights, you can take them to the world court.”

Malcolm X

The Ballot or the Bullet (1964), Speech in Cleveland, Ohio (April 3, 1964)
Context: When you expand the civil-rights struggle to the level of human rights, you can then take the case of the black man in this country before the nations in the UN. You can take it before the General Assembly. You can take Uncle Sam before a world court. But the only level you can do it on is the level of human rights. Civil rights keeps you under his restrictions, under his jurisdiction. Civil rights keeps you in his pocket. Civil rights means you’re asking Uncle Sam to treat you right. Human rights are something you were born with. Human rights are your God-given rights. Human rights are the rights that are recognized by all nations of this earth. And any time any one violates your human rights, you can take them to the world court.

God , World , Time

“I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.”

Malcolm X

The Ballot or the Bullet (1964), Speech in Cleveland, Ohio (April 3, 1964)
Context: No, I’m not an American. I’m one of the 22 million black people who are the victims of Americanism. One of the 22 million black people who are the victims of democracy, nothing but disguised hypocrisy. So, I’m not standing here speaking to you as an American, or a patriot, or a flag-saluter, or a flag-waver—no, not I. I’m speaking as a victim of this American system. And I see America through the eyes of the victim. I don’t see any American dream; I see an American nightmare.

Dreams

“I'm sorry to say that the subject I most disliked was mathematics. I have thought about it. I think the reason was that mathematics leaves no room for argument. If you made a mistake, that was all there was to it.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Mathematics , Thinking

“You don't have to be a man to fight for freedom. All you have to do is to be an intelligent human being.”

Malcolm X
Intelligence , Freedom , Fight

“In fact, once he is motivated no one can change more completely than the man who has been at the bottom. I call myself the best example of that.”

Malcolm X book The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X

Motivation , Change

“And just because you have colleges and universities doesn't mean you have education.”

Malcolm X

Source: Malcolm X, Black Liberation, and the Road to Workers' Power

Education , Universe

“Concerning non-violence: it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.”

Malcolm X

Source: Malcolm X Speaks: Selected Speeches and Statements
Source: Malcolm X Speaks (1965), p. 22

“You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get it.”

Malcolm X

Advice to the Youth of Mississippi (31 December 1964) http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9399834
Variant: You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.
Context: You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.

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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

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

Malcolm X

“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

“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

“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

“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

“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

“You can't have capitalism without racism.”

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

“Only the mistakes were mine.”

Malcolm X

“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.

“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.

“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

“America's greatest crime against the black man was not slavery or lynching, but that he was taught to wear a mask of self-hate and self-doubt.”

Malcolm X
Hate

“To the same degree that your understanding of and attitude towards Afrika becomes more positive, your understanding of and attitude towards yourself will also becomes more positive…”

Malcolm X
Understanding

“Since I learned the truth in Mecca, my dearest friends have come to include all kinds — some Christians, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus, agnostics, and even atheists! I have friends who are called capitalists, Socialists, and Communists! Some of my friends are moderates, conservatives, extremists — some are even Uncle Toms! My friends today are black, brown, red, yellow, and white!”

Malcolm X

Source: The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965), p. 375

Truth , Learning

“Allah has blessed us. He has destroyed twenty-two of our enemies.”

Malcolm X

Quoted in Julius Lester, "Look Out, Whitey!" New York: Dial Press, 1968. p. 138.
Attributed

“It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That's the only thing that can save this country.”

Malcolm X

Speech in New York City (19 February 1965), two days before he was assassinated.
Attributed

Time , Country

“To me the earth's most explosive and pernicious evil is racism, the inability of God's creatures to live as One, especially in the Western world.”

Malcolm X

The Autobiography of Malcolm X (1965)

God , World , Evil

“In Asia or the Arab world or in Africa, where the Muslims are, if you find one who says he's white, all he's doing is using an adjective to describe something that is incidental about him…. There is nothing else to it. He's just white. But when you get the white man over here in America and he says he's white, he means something else. You can listen to the sound of his voice when he says he's white. He means he's boss.”

Malcolm X

Source: Malcolm X Speaks (1965), p. 163

World

“If you're afraid of black nationalism, you're afraid of revolution. And if you love revolution, you love black nationalism. To understand this, you have to go back to what the young brother here referred to as the house Negro and the field Negro back during slavery. There were two kinds of slaves, the house Negro and the field Negro. The house Negroes — they lived in the house with master, they dressed pretty good, they ate good because they ate his food — what he left. They lived in the attic or the basement, but still they lived near the master; and they loved the master more than the master loved himself. They would give their life to save the master's house — quicker than the master would. If the master said, "We got a good house here," the house Negro would say, "Yeah, we got a good house here." Whenever the master said "we," he said "we."”

Malcolm X

That's how you can tell a house Negro.
Malcolm X Speaks (1965)

Love , Life , Food , Understanding