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UPDATED: 9:24 a.m. ET, Nov. 23, 2021 —
A father, a civil rights leader, and a symbol of courage; Malcolm X was a true pioneer to the advancement of human thought. Though during the 1960’s he was vilified by the media and the government for his views on taking a violent stand against oppression and social injustices around the world, Malcolm used his words to fuel people. Whether written or spoken in one of his many speeches, Malcolm was able to express a hunger for freedom that people all over the world could understand. His eloquent, but fearless style of writing and reciting still resonates with people from all walks of life. Malcolm X quotes are some of the most popular searched quote topics on the internet and for good reason. There is almost a Malcolm X quote for everything. Below we’ve separated some of his most important quotes into a few categories to help you understand them better. They could even help spark some inspiration for your next creative project.
RELATED: 20 Quotes Relevant To The Movement Today
Malcolm X Quotes About Violence
1. “If violence is wrong in America, violence is wrong abroad. If it is wrong to be violent defending black women and black children and black babies and black men, then it is wrong for America to draft us, and make us violent abroad in defense of her. And if it is right for America to draft us, and teach us how to be violent in defense of her, then it is right for you and me to do whatever is necessary to defend our own people right here in this country.” — Speech, Nov. 1963, New York City.
2. 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
3. “I am for violence if non-violence means we continue postponing a solution to the American black man’s problem just to avoid violence.”
4. “I don’t favor violence. If we could bring about recognition and respect of our people by peaceful means, well and good. Everybody would like to reach his objectives peacefully. But I’m also a realist. The only people in this country who are asked to be nonviolent are black people.”
5. “I don’t even call it violence when it’s in self defense; I call it intelligence.”
Malcolm X Quotes About Education
6.”Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
7. “Without education, you are not going anywhere in this world.”
RELATED: 15 Little Known Facts About Malcolm X’s Life, From Birth To Death
Malcolm A Quotes About Media
8. “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent.”
9. “The press is used to make it look like (the black man) is the criminal and (the police force is) the victim.”
Malcolm X Quotes About Justice & Freedom
10. “If you’re not ready to die for it, put the word ‘freedom’ out of your vocabulary.” – Malcolm X
11. I’m for truth, no matter who tells it. I’m for justice, no matter who it is for or against. I’m a human being first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.”
12. “Nobody can give you freedom. Nobody can give you equality or justice or anything. If your’e a man, you take it.” – Harlem rally for Fannie Lou Hamer
13. “Any time you beg another man to set you free, you will never be free. Freedom is something that you have to do for yourselves.”
14. “It is only after slavery and prison that the sweetest appreciation of freedom can come. ”
Malcolm X Quotes About Life
15. “Stumbling is not falling.” – Malcolm X
16. “I feel like a man who has been asleep somewhat and under someone else’s control. I feel that what I’m thinking and saying is now for myself.”
17. “We didn’t land on Plymouth Rock, Plymouth Rock landed on us.”
18. “ Im 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 the plate.” – Ballot or the Bullet
Malcolm X Quotes About The Future
19. “Thicker each year in these ghettoes is the kind of teenager that I was, with the wrong kinds of heroes, and the wrong kinds of influences.” – The Autobiography of Malcolm X
20. “No man is given but so much time to accomplish whatever is his life’s work.”
SEE ALSO:
Malcolm X’s Daughter Ilyasah Shabazz To Produce TV Series About His Coming Of Age Story
Malcolm X’s Most Iconic Speeches
15 Little Known Facts About Malcolm X’s Life, From Birth To Death
