Shirley Anita Chisholm was an American politician, educator, and author. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress. Profoundly inspirational Shirley Chisholm quotes will encourage you to think a little deeper than you usually would and broaden your perspective.
Famous Shirley Chisholm Quotes
You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm
I have never cared too much what people say. What I am interested in is what they do. Shirley Chisholm.
Don’t listen to those who say YOU CAN’T. Listen to the voice inside yourself that says, I CAN. Shirley Chisholm
When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses. Shirley Chisholm
In the end anti black, anti female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti humanism. Shirley Chisholm
The Constitution they wrote was designed to protect the rights of white, male citizens. Shirley Chisholm.
Defeat should not be the source of discouragement, but a stimulus to keep plotting. Shirley Chisholm
An armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. Shirley Chisholm
The Constitution they wrote was designed to protect the rights of white, male citizens. As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers, a great pity, on both counts. It is not too late to complete the work they left undone. Today, here, we should start to do so. Shirley Chisholm
Service is the rent you pay for a room on this earth. Shirley Chisholm
I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo. Shirley Chisholm
I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate the sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo. Shirley Chisholm
I have never cared too much what people say. What I am interested in is what they do. Shirley Chisholm
Racism is so universal in this country, so widespread, and deep-seated, that it is invisible because it is so normal. Shirley Chisholm
Laws will not eliminate prejudice from the hearts of human beings. But that is no reason to allow prejudice to continue to be enshrined in our laws to perpetuate injustice through inaction. Shirley Chisholm
You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm
I’ve always met more discrimination being a woman than being Black men are men. Shirley Chisholm
When I die, I want to be remembered as a woman who lived in the twentieth century and who dared to be a catalyst for change. Shirley Chisholm
Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased. Shirley Chisholm
At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else. Shirley Chisholm
Racism is so universal in this country, so widespread and deep seated, that it is invisible because it is so normal. Shirley Chisholm, Shirley Chisholm
All we want is for the trivial difference to make no difference. Shirley Chisholm
I am and always will be a catalyst for change. Shirley Chisholm
I am the people’s politician. If the day should ever come when the people can’t save me, I’ll know I’m finished. Shirley Chisholm
Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt. Shirley Chisholm
Defeat should not be the source of discouragement, but a stimulus to keep plotting. Shirley Chisholm.
At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else. Shirley Chisholm
Apparently all they know here in Washington about Brooklyn is that a tree grew there. Shirley Chisholm
When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses. Shirley Chisholm
Take away an accident of pigmentation of a thin layer of our outer skin and there is no difference between me and anyone else. Shirley Chisholm
The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, It’s a girl. Shirley Chisholm
The one thing you’ve got going: your one vote. Shirley Chisholm
America has the laws and the material resources it takes to insure justice for all its people. What it lacks is the heart, the humanity. Shirley Chisholm
America has the laws and the material resources it takes to insure justice for all its people. What it lacks is the heart, the humanity. Shirley Chisholm
Most Americans have never seen the ignorance, degradation, hunger, sickness, and futility in which many other Americans live They won’t become involved in economic or political change until something brings the seriousness of the situation home to them. Shirley Chisholm
If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring in a folding chair. Shirley Chisholm
It is not heroin or cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh reality. There are more television addicts, more baseball and football addicts, more movie addicts, and certainly more alcohol addicts in this country than there are narcotics addicts. Shirley Chisholm
Anyone who takes that role must pay a price. Shirley Chisholm
I was the first American citizen to be elected to Congress in spite of the double drawbacks of being female and having skin darkened by melanin. When you put it that way, it sounds like a foolish reason for fame. In a just and free society it would be foolish. That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black and a woman proves, I think, that our society is not yet either just or free. Shirley Chisholm
As things are now, no one can tell who members of Congress are responsible to, except that it does not often appear to be to the people. Shirley Chisholm
As things are now, no one can tell to whom members of Congress are responsible, except that it does not often appear to be to the people. Everyone else is represented in Washington by a rich and powerful lobby, it seems. But there is no lobby for the people. Shirley Chisholm
I’m looking to no man walking this earth for approval of what I’m doing. Shirley Chisholm
Service is the rent that you pay for a room on this earth. Shirley Chisholm
It is not female egotism to say that the future of mankind may very well be ours to determine. It is a fact. Shirley Chisholm
When I die, I want to be remembered as a woman who lived in the twentieth century and who dared to be a catalyst of change. I don’t want to be remembered as the first black woman who went to Congress. And I don’t even want to be remembered as the first woman who happened to be black to make a bid for the Presidency. I want to be remembered as a woman who fought for change in the twentieth century. That’s what I want. Shirley Chisholm
We have been so patient and loyal and what has it gotten us? We want our full share now. Shirley Chisholm
Women must become revolutionary. This cannot be evolution but revolution. Shirley Chisholm
Be as bold as the first man or woman to eat an oyster. Shirley Chisholm
I love America not for what she is, but for what she can become. Shirley Chisholm
My greatest political asset, which professional politicians fear, is my mouth, out of which come all kinds of things one shouldn’t always discuss for reasons of political expediency. Shirley Chisholm
Some fine men are in Congress, too few, trying to do a responsible job. Shirley Chisholm
Be as bold as the first man or woman to eat an oyster. Shirley Chisholm
To label family planning and legal abortion programs ‘genocide’ is male rhetoric, for male ears. Shirley Chisholm
That’s what’s wrong with the country. There are too many ‘good soldiers’ accepting too many bad decisions. Shirley Chisholm
Women have learned to flex their political muscles. You got to flex that muscle to get what you want. Shirley Chisholm
There is a good deal of evidence that the United States is moving to the right, and that the main force behind the movement is a resurgence, in a new form, of racial prejudice. Shirley Chisholm
Liberty and justice for all’ were beautiful words, but the ugly fact was that liberty and justice were only for white males. Shirley Chisholm
I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the presidency of the United States. I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I’m not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I’m equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests I am the candidate of the people. Shirley Chisholm
I love America not for what she is, but for what she can become. Shirley Chisholm
I don’t measure America by its achievement but by its potential. Shirley Chisholm
Tremendous amounts of talent are lost to our society just because that talent wears a skirt. Shirley Chisholm
As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers, a great pity, on both counts. Shirley Chisholm
Any time things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something. Shirley Chisholm
Some members of Congress are among the best actors in the world. Shirley Chisholm
There is little place in the political scheme of things for an independent creative personality for a fighter. Shirley Chisholm
Any time things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something. Shirley Chisholm
I am not the candidate of Black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman and I am equally proud of that. Shirley Chisholm
We have never seen health as a right. It has been conceived as a privilege, available only to those who can afford it. This is the real reason the American healthcare system is in such a scandalous state. Shirley Chisholm
In this country, everybody is supposed to be able to run for President, but that has never really been true. Shirley Chisholm
Congress seems drugged and inert most of the time its idea of meeting a problem is to hold hearings or, in extreme cases, to appoint a commission. Shirley Chisholm
You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. Shirley Chisholm
That I am a national figure because I was the first person in 192 years to be at once a congressman, black, and a woman proves, I would think, that our society is not yet either just or free. Shirley Chisholm
I am and always will be a catalyst for change. Shirley Chisholm
When the Kerner Commission told white America what black America has always known, that prejudice and hatred built the nation’s slums, maintained them and profits by them, white America could not believe it. But it is true. Unless we start to fight and defeat the enemies in our own country, poverty, and racism and make our talk of equality and opportunity ring true, we are exposed in the eyes of the world as hypocrites when we talk about making people free Chapter 9 Shirley Chisholm
If they don’t give you a seat at the table, bring a folding chair. Shirley Chisholm
Racism keeps people who are being managed from finding out the truth through contact with each other. Shirley Chisholm
Health is a human right, not a privilege to be purchased. Shirley Chisholm
My God, what do we want? What does any human being want? Take away an accident of pigmentation of a thin layer of our outer skin and there is no difference between me and anyone else. All we want is for that trivial difference to make no difference. Shirley Chisholm
Service is the rent that you pay for room on this earth. Shirley Chisholm
Political organizations are formed to keep the powerful in power. Shirley Chisholm
We have never seen health as a right. It has been conceived as a privilege, available only to those who can afford it. This is the real reason the American healthcare system is in such a scandalous state. Shirley Chisholm
Rhetoric never won a revolution yet. Shirley Chisholm
It is not heroin or cocaine that makes one an addict, it is the need to escape from a harsh reality. Shirley Chisholm
Our representative democracy is not working because the Congress that is supposed to represent the voters does not respond to their needs. I believe the chief reason for this is that it is ruled by a small group of old men. Shirley Chisholm
America has the laws and the material resources it takes to insure justice for all its people. What it lacks is the heart, the humanity. Shirley Chisholm
The liberals in the House strongly resemble liberals I have known through the last two decades in the civil rights conflict. When it comes time to show on which side they will be counted, they excuse themselves. Shirley Chisholm
When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses. Shirley Chisholm
As a black person I am no stranger to prejudice. But the truth is that in the political world I have been far more often discriminated against because I am a woman than because I am black. Shirley Chisholm
I have never cared too much what people way. What I am interested in is what they do. Shirley Chisholm
