Malcolm X Quotes

The media's the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.

A wise man can play the part of a clown, but a clown can't play the part of a wise man.

We need more light about each other. Light creates understanding, understanding creates love, love creates patience, and patience creates unity.

When 'I' replaced with 'We', even the illness becomes wellness.

I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil.

Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.

If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.

You're not supposed to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who says it.

The mother is the first teacher of the child. The message she gives that child, that child gives to the world.

Read absolutely everything you get your hands on because you'll never know where you'll get an idea from.

You can't separate peace from freedom because no one can be at peace unless he has his freedom.

If you form the habit of taking what someone else says about a thing without checking it out for yourself, you'll find that other people will have you hating your friends and loving your enemies.

America's greatest crime against the black man was not slavery or lynching, but that he was taught to wear a mask of self-hate and self-doubt.

The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.

For tommorow belongs to those that prepare for it today.

Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.

They cripple the bird's wing, and then condemn it for not flying as fast as they.

Learn to see, listen, and think for yourself.

That's not a chip on my shoulder, that's your foot on my neck.

You and I have never seen democracy; all we've seen is hypocrisy.

If not now then when, if not me then who?

Don't be in a hurry to condemn because he doesn't do what you do or think as you think or as fast. There was a time when you didn't know what you know today.

Only those who have already experienced a revolution within themselves can reach out effectively to help others.

Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.

I'm for truth, no matter who tells it. I'm for justice, no matter who it's for or against.

One day, may we all meet together in the light of understanding.

The mental flexibility of the wise man permits him to keep an open mind and enables him to readjust himself whenever it becomes necessary for a change.

The greatest mistake of the movement has been trying to organize a sleeping people around specific goals. You have to wake the people up first, then you'll get action.

Concerning non-violence: it is criminal to teach a man not to defend himself when he is the constant victim of brutal attacks.

You can cuss out colonialism, imperialism, and all other kinds of ism, but it's hard for you to cuss that dollarism. When they drop those dollars on you, your soul goes.

If you have no critics you'll likely have no success.

How can you thank a man for giving you what's already yours?

Just as a tree without roots is dead, a people without history or cultural roots also becomes a dead people.

I believe in human beings, and that all human beings should be respected as such, regardless of their color.

The only thing power respects, is power.

I'm 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.

A man without any history is like a tree without roots

You can always chase a dream but it will not count if you never catch it.

My Alma mater was books, a good library... I could spend the rest of my life reading, just satisfying my curiosity.

An English writer telephoned me from London, asking questions. One was, ‘What’s your alma mater?’ I told him, ‘Books.

Only a fool would let his enemy teach his children.

If you're not ready to die for it, put the word 'freedom' out of your vocabulary.

My alma mater was books, a good library.

I am a Muslim and . . . my religion makes me be against all forms of racism. It keeps me from judging any man by the color of his skin. It teaches me to judge him by his deeds .

America needs to understand Islam, because this is the one religion that erases from its society the race problem.

The political philosophy of black nationalism means that the black man should control the politics and the politicians in his own community; no more.

You get your freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get it. Then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.

A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.

To me, the thing that is worse than death is betrayal.

People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book.