“If there's anything more exhausting than having to battle for our basic human rights, it's letting them go without a fight.”

—  Michelle Wu

24 June 2022 "Boston Mayor Michelle Wu says overturning Roe v. Wade will 'ruin lives'" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WrmQGDRoWCY

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update June 29, 2022. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "If there's anything more exhausting than having to battle for our basic human rights, it's letting them go without a fi…" by Michelle Wu?
Michelle Wu photo
Michelle Wu 11
City Councilor in Boston, Massachusetts 1985

Related quotes

Jack Kornfield photo

“Let go of the battle. Breathe quietly and let it be. Let your body relax and your heart soften. Open to whatever you experience without fighting.”

Jack Kornfield (1945) American writer

Source: A Path with Heart: A Guide Through the Perils and Promises of Spiritual Life

Eminem photo
Margaret Thatcher photo

“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.”

Margaret Thatcher (1925–2013) British stateswoman and politician

This quote is widely attributed to Margaret Thatcher on various websites, and also appears in a number of books, including The Concise Columbia Dictionary of Quotations, Columbia University Press (1989), ed. Robert Andrews, p. 320 : ISBN 0231069901. 9780231069908 , but without any further source information such as date, location or any other context.
One valid Thatcher quote which may be the basis for the version above appears in the Second Carlton Lecture http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/105799 (‘Why Democracy Will Last’), delivered at the Carlton Club, London (November 26, 1984) : Mr. Chairman, each generation has to stand up for democracy. It can’t take anything for granted and may have to fight fundamental battles anew. You know that marvellous quotation from Goethe : ‘That which thy fathers bequeathed thee / Earn it anew if thou would possess it.’
Thatcher also expressed this thought in a Speech to Atlantic Bridge (May 14, 2003) http://www.margaretthatcher.org/document/111266, delivered at the St. Regis Hotel, New York City : My friends, every generation has to fight anew the battle for liberty.
Disputed

John Lewis (civil rights leader) photo

“I have been in some kind of fight – for freedom, equality, basic human rights – for nearly my entire life. I have never faced a fight quite like the one I have now.”

John Lewis (civil rights leader) (1940) American politician and civil rights leader

Source: Twitter https://twitter.com/repjohnlewis/status/1207420638748725250, (30 December 2019)

Donald J. Trump photo

“It's going to get worse in our country and we better start fighting a lot tougher than we're fighting right now.”

Donald J. Trump (1946) 45th President of the United States of America

2015-07-16

Trump: 'Absolutely Ridiculous' Marines Not Allowed to Carry Guns at Centers

Fox News Insider

http://insider.foxnews.com/2015/07/16/donald-trump-reacts-chattanooga-shootings-oreilly-factor
2010s, 2015

Neal Stephenson photo
John F. Kennedy photo
Nick Griffin photo
Paulo Coelho photo

“There is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for.”

Paulo Coelho (1947) Brazilian lyricist and novelist

As quoted in Honor Your Gifts (2007) by Dona M. Deane, p. 199.
Variant: But there is suffering in life, and there are defeats. No one can avoid them. But it's better to lose some of the battles in the struggles for your dreams than to be defeated without ever knowing what you're fighting for

Cesar Chavez photo

“This is the beginning of a social movement in fact and not in pronouncements. We seek our basic, God-given rights as human beings. Because we have suffered — and are not afraid to suffer — in order to survive, we are ready to give up everything, even our lives, in our fight for social justice.”

Cesar Chavez (1927–1993) American farm worker, labor leader, and civil rights activist

The Plan of Delano (1965)
Context: This is the beginning of a social movement in fact and not in pronouncements. We seek our basic, God-given rights as human beings. Because we have suffered — and are not afraid to suffer — in order to survive, we are ready to give up everything, even our lives, in our fight for social justice. We shall do it without violence because that is our destiny. To the ranchers, and to all those who opposes, we say, in the words of Benito Juárez: "El respeto al derecho ajeno es la paz." [Respect for another's right is the meaning of peace. ]

Related topics