Life was never quite easy for African-Americans. The hardships they had to go through, and their perseverance in overcoming these hardships is a lesson for people across the world. Martin Luther King Jr., George Washington Carver, Barack Obama, Michael Jackson, Michael Jordan, Muhammad Ali... the list of famous African-Americans is quite long. They were inspirations not just for the people of the United States, but for the entire world, and their power to inspire is aptly reflected in their quotes.
Inspirational African-American Quotes
"There is not a Black America and a White America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United States of America." - Barack Obama.
"When you do the common things in life in an uncommon way, you will command the attention of the world." - George Washington Carver.
"Not everything that is faced can be changed, but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin.
"Success is the result of perfection, hard work, learning from failure, loyalty, and persistence." - Colin Powell.
"My body could stand the crutches but my mind couldn't stand the sideline." - Michael Jordan.
"He who is not courageous enough to take risks will accomplish nothing in life." - Muhammad Ali.
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"If you don't stand for something you will fall for anything." - Malcolm X.
"I decided I wasn't going to come down. I was going to fly. I was going to stay up in the air forever." - Jesse Owens.
"We have to do with the past only as we can make it useful to the present and the future." - Fredrick Douglass.
African-American Quotes about Life
"If you enter this world knowing you are loved and you leave this world knowing the same, then everything that happens in between can be dealt with." - Michael Jackson.
"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome." - Booker T Washington.
"I believe that one of life's greatest risks is never daring to risk." - Oprah Winfrey.
"Sometimes I would almost rather have people take away years of my life than take away a moment." - Pearl Bailey.
"Life is a system of half-truths and lies, Opportunistic, convenient evasion." - Langston Hughes.
"If you stop struggling, then you stop life." - Huey Newton.
"Sometimes it takes years to really grasp what has happened to your life." - Wilma Rudolph.
"You've got to get to the stage in life where going for it is more important than winning or losing." - Arthur Ashe.
African-American Quotes about Love
"Some say we are responsible for those we love. Others know we are responsible for those who love us." - Nikki Giovanni.
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"Love is that condition in the human spirit so profound that it allows me to survive, and better than that, to thrive with passion, compassion, and style." Maya Angelou.
"I believe that every single event in life happens in an opportunity to choose love over fear." - Oprah Winfrey.
"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it." - Martin Luther King, Jr.
"I have learned not to worry about love; but to honor its coming with all my heart." - Alice Walker.
"Let us dream of tomorrow where we can truly love from the soul, and know love as the ultimate truth at the heart of all creation." - Michael Jackson.
"The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love." - Pearl Bailey.
"Having a child is surely the most beautifully irrational act that two people in love can commit." - Bill Cosby.
"The times may have changed, but the people are still the same. We're still looking for love, and that will always be our struggle as human beings." - Halle Berry.
Right from Martin Luther King Jr. to Michael Jackson, all these African-Americans were committed to excellence. These people proved that color doesn't matter, what matters is humanity and dedication.