35 Jesse Jackson Quotes to Honor His Legacy

Liputan6.com, Jakarta - The world lost a great leader on February 18, 2025, when Reverend Jesse Jackson passed away at the age of 84. His death was a moment of deep sadness for many people across America and the world. Even after his passing, his voice lives on through the powerful Jesse Jackson quotes he left behind.

Jesse Jackson was born on October 8, 1941, in Greenville, South Carolina. He grew up during a time when racism was widespread across America. He walked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. during the civil rights movement and later founded the Rainbow PUSH Coalition, an organization that fought for equality and human rights. He also ran for U.S. President twice, in 1984 and 1988, becoming the first Black candidate to win major primary contests. His life was dedicated to fighting for those who had no voice.

In this article, we have gathered some of the most powerful Jesse Jackson quotes from various sources, Wednesday (18/2/2026), to remember his legacy. His powerful words will inspire you to carry on his spirit and continue fighting for a better and more just world.

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

2. "If you fall behind, run faster. Never give up, never surrender, and rise up against the odds."

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

4. "Never look down on anybody unless you're helping him up."

5. "When we're unemployed, we're called lazy; when the whites are unemployed it's called a depression."

6. "A man must be willing to die for justice. Death is an inescapable reality and men die daily, but good deeds live forever."

7. "Your children need your presence more than your presents."

8. "Leaders must be tough enough to fight, tender enough to cry, human enough to make mistakes, humble enough to admit them, strong enough to absorb the pain, and resilient enough to bounce back and keep on moving."

9. “America is not like a blanket — one piece of unbroken cloth, the same color, the same texture, the same size. America is more like a quilt: many patches, many pieces, many colors, many sizes, all woven and held together by a common thread.”

10. "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."

11. "If you don't know what tomorrow holds, you need to know who holds tomorrow!"

12. “The white, the Hispanic, the black, the Arab, the Jew, the woman, the Native American, the small farmer, the businessperson, the environmentalist, the peace activist, the young, the old, the lesbian, the gay and the disabled make up the American quilt.”

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

14. “A new leadership. A choice. A chance. Don't cry about what you don't have. Use what you got.”

15. "You may not be responsible for being down, but you must be responsible for getting up."

16. "It is time for us to turn to each other, not on each other."

17. "Hold your head high, stick your chest out. You can make it. It gets dark sometimes, but morning comes. Keep hope alive."

18. "If you try you may fail, if you don't try you're guaranteed to fail."

19. "You can't teach what you don't know. And you can't lead where you don't go."

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

21. "Leadership cannot just go along to get along. Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day."

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

23. "We must not measure greatness from the mansion down, but from the manger up. Jesus said that we should not be judged by the bark we wear but by the fruit that we bear. Jesus said that we must measure greatness by how we treat the least of these."

24. "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."

25. "You can't plant a seed and pick the fruit the next morning."

26. "If my mind can conceive it, and my heart can believe it, I know I can achieve it."

27. "We've removed the ceiling above our dreams. There are no more impossible dreams."

28. "In politics, an organized minority is a political majority."

29. "America needs young people to be inspired to choose sacrifice over greed."

30. "Success needs no explanation. Failure does not have one that matters."

31. "Those who have the most wealth and the most property, their children have the first, the best, and the most."

32. "So many bright stars, bright in life, burn out quickly."

33. "When the doors of opportunity swing open, we must make sure that we are not too drunk or too indifferent to walk through."

34. "We reveal our joys and successes, we conceal our pain."

35. "Our dreams must be stronger than our memories. We must be pulled by our dreams, rater than pushed by our memories."