Jesse Jackson

Jesse Jackson

34 quotes

As an American minister, activist and politician, Jesse Jackson earned a lasting place in the canon of memorable quotations. Whether reflecting on Hope or Leadership, Jesse Jackson brought uncommon clarity to every subject. 49 of Jesse Jackson's sharpest quotes live here, spanning themes of Hope, Leadership, Home, Government, and Dreams. A line that stays with you: "Success needs no explanation. Failure does not have one that matters."

“At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.”

— Jesse Jackson

Fear

All Quotes by Jesse Jackson

“No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams.”

— Jesse Jackson

Dreams

“Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude.”

— Jesse Jackson

Attitude

“In many ways, history is marked as 'before' and 'after' Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down.”

— Jesse Jackson

History

“Your children need your presence more than your presents.”

— Jesse Jackson

Birthday

“Both tears and sweat are salty, but they render a different result. Tears will get you sympathy sweat will get you change.”

— Jesse Jackson

Change

“In Afghanistan, there is a plan to build democracy hundreds of thousands of troops are protecting it. There is a plan to rebuild and reconstruct there. But many thousands of Americans die from violence and poverty every year and we don't have a plan for reconstruction at home.”

— Jesse Jackson

Home

“For me, Barack Obama's election was a milestone of the most extraordinary kind. On the day he was elected I felt such hope in my heart. I thought we were seeing the beginning of a new era of equal opportunity across race and gender such as America had never known before.”

— Jesse Jackson

Hope

“Urban America has been redlined. Government has not offered tax incentives for investment, as it has in a dozen foreign markets. Banks have redlined it. Industries have moved out, they've redlined it. Clearly, to break up the redlining process, there must be incentives to green-line with hedges against risk.”

— Jesse Jackson

Government

“We have to judge politicians by their cumulative score. In one innings they make a great catch, in another they drop the ball. In one they score a home run, in another they strike out. But it is their cumulative batting average that we are interested in.”

— Jesse Jackson

Home

“On the political front, of course it's a zero-sum game. If it's all white males holding positions, you bring 10 women in, then it's, 'Women are coming!' Get 10 blacks and it's, 'Blacks are coming!' 'Hispanics are coming!' Zero-sum game. The seatmates might change but the chairs don't move. In the economy, the number of chairs can actually increase.”

— Jesse Jackson

Change

“I came to the conclusion that in order to end racial barriers, I needed to run for the office of the president and put forth an agenda of social justice and world peace. In addition, I concluded that someone needed to run and challenge the liberal orthodoxy.”

— Jesse Jackson

Peace

“At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division.”

— Jesse Jackson

Fear

“We've been so preoccupied with getting the government to behave in a fair and democratic way, we were not able to focus on the private sector where most of the jobs are, where most of the wealth and opportunities are.”

— Jesse Jackson

Government

“So here we are today with a new conversation. When University of Georgia plays Georgia Tech, it's uniform color versus skin color. We have - we've overcome that level of racial fear.”

— Jesse Jackson

Fear

“People internalize, from the jail to student loan debt, to credit card debt, to unemployment to the whole collective. It manifests itself in many ways, in people's home lives, domestic stuff.”

— Jesse Jackson

Home

“Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together.”

— Jesse Jackson

Leadership

“It is a historical error for those who were not there to just refer to August 28th as 'I Have a Dream' speech day. That is a real disservice to those who were there. It was a sad day. It was not a celebration environment.”

— Jesse Jackson

Sad

“In politics, an organized minority is a political majority.”

— Jesse Jackson

Politics

“Many kids come out of college, they have a credit card and a diploma. They don't know how to buy a house or a car or health insurance or life insurance. They do not know basic microeconomics.”

— Jesse Jackson

Car

“A man who cannot be enticed by money or intimidated by the threat of jail or death has two of the strongest weapons that anyone has to offer.”

— Jesse Jackson

Death