Powerful African American Inspirational Quotes to Uplift Your Spirit

1. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” – Frederick Douglass

2. “I had no idea that history was being made. I was just tired of giving up.” – Rosa Parks

3. “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

4. “You may not control all the events that happen to you, but you can decide not to be reduced by them.” – Maya Angelou

5. “Never be limited by other people’s limited imaginations.” – Dr. Mae Jemison

6. “Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken-winged bird that cannot fly.” – Langston Hughes

7. “I am no longer accepting the things I cannot change. I am changing the things I cannot accept.” – Angela Davis

8. “The time is always right to do what is right.” – Martin Luther King Jr.

9. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer.” – Harriet Tubman

10. “My mission in life is not merely to survive, but to thrive.” – Maya Angelou

11. “Character is power.” – Booker T. Washington

12. “Deal with yourself as an individual worthy of respect, and make everyone else deal with you the same way.” – Nikki Giovanni

13. “You have to act as if it were possible to radically transform the world. And you have to do it all the time.” – Angela Davis

14. “I am deliberate and afraid of nothing.” – Audre Lorde

15. “I don’t want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.” – Morgan Freeman

16. “The cost of liberty is less than the price of repression.” – W.E.B. Du Bois

17. “You can’t separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.” – Malcolm X

18. “I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear.” – Rosa Parks

19. “Dream big and dare to fail.” – Norman Vaughan (often attributed in African American circles)

20. “Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.” – Carol Moseley Braun

21. “Even if it makes others uncomfortable, I will love who I am.” – Janelle Monáe

22. “You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines.” – Shirley Chisholm

23. “What’s the world for if you can’t make it up the way you want it?” – Toni Morrison

24. “You can fall, but you can rise also.” – Angelique Kidjo

25. “Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.” – Coretta Scott King

26. “Excellence is the best deterrent to racism or sexism.” – Oprah Winfrey

27. “I will not have my life narrowed down. I will not bow down to somebody else’s whim or to someone else’s ignorance.” – Bell Hooks

28. “When I dare to be powerful, to use my strength in the service of my vision, then it becomes less and less important whether I am afraid.” – Audre Lorde

29. “In recognizing the humanity of our fellow beings, we pay ourselves the highest tribute.” – Thurgood Marshall

30. “Surround yourself with only people who are going to lift you higher.” – Oprah Winfrey