Quotes by Jesse Jackson

"Deliberation and debate is the way you stir the soul of our democracy."

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

"If there are occasions when my grape turned into a raisin and my joy bell lost its resonance, please forgive me. Charge it to my head and not to my heart."

"Those powers that control the tent are not threatened at all by any activity that you engage in, in the shadows, that's not moving toward the tent. And I am rather convinced that we have a generation that is so preoccupied with life in the shadows, they never even focus on getting to the sunlight where you open up the big tent."

"While I've spent a lot of quality time with my children, perhaps it's not been enough."

"A check or credit card, a Gucci bag strap, anything of value will do. Give as you live."

"There is no power in cynicism. There is no forward thrust in cynicism."

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

"America is not a blanket woven from one thread, one color, one cloth."

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

"When you create more small businesses, you create small entrepreneurship. Out of that comes self-determination and employment."

"What is the American dream? The American dream is one big tent. One big tent. And on that big tent you have four basic promises: equal protection under the law, equal opportunity, equal access, and fair share."

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

"It is a historical error for those who were not there to just refer to August 28th as 'I Have a Dream' speech day. That is a real disservice to those who were there. It was a sad day. It was not a celebration environment."

"The relationship between the prophet and the President, the priest and the President, is a sacred one."

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

"I came to the conclusion that in order to end racial barriers, I needed to run for the office of the president and put forth an agenda of social justice and world peace. In addition, I concluded that someone needed to run and challenge the liberal orthodoxy."

"Music of all arts should be expansive and inclusive."

"We must all learn a good lesson - how to live together. That is the new challenge of the new world... learning to co-exist and not co-annihilate."

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