139 Quotes by Rosa Parks

To this day I believe we are here on earth to live, grow, and do what we can to make this world a better place for all people to enjoy freedom.

I would like to be known as a person who is concerned about freedom and equality and justice and prosperity for all people.

We had a saying that we worked "from can to can't," which means working from when you can see (sunup) to when you can't (sundown).

Even when there was segregation there was plenty of integration in the South, but it was for the benefit and convenience of the white person, not us.

One of my greatest pleasures there was enjoying the smell of bacon frying and coffee brewing and knowing that white folks were doing the preparing instead of me. There was swimming in the man-made lake, volleyball, square dancing. It was quite enjoyable to be with at Highlander. We forgot what color anybody was. I was forty-two years old, and it was one of the few times in my life up to that point when I did not feel any hostility from white people.

One of my greatest pleasures there was enjoying the smell of bacon frying and coffee brewing and knowing that white folks were doing the preparing instead of me. I was 42 years old, and it was one of the few times in my life up to that point when I did not feel any hostility from white people.

People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. I was not tired physically, or no more tired than I usually was at the end of a working day. I was not old, although some people have an image of me as being old then. I was forty-two. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in.

I had decided that I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors. I had made that decision myself, as an individual.

People always say that I didn't give up my seat because I was tired, but that isn't true. No, the only tired I was, was tired of giving in