You Will Change the World

Sleeping Through the Revolution

“One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

Not remaining vigilant — *Photo credit: Katherine Teeple*

More quotes from MLK:

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”

“The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.”

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Christian minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

Helping Yourself

“It is one of the beautiful compensations in this life that no one can sincerely try to help another without helping himself.”
~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

More quotes from Emerson:

“Treat a man as he is, and he will remain as he is. Treat a man as he could be, and he will become what he should be.”

“Adopt the pace of nature: her secret is patience.”

“People with great gifts are easy to find, but symmetrical and balanced ones never.”

Ralph Waldo Emerson was an American essayist, lecturer, philosopher, and poet who led the transcendentalist movement of the mid-19th century.

Positive Thinking

“Change your thoughts and you change your world.”
Rev. Norman Vincent Peale

More quotes from the Rev:

“Repetition of the same thought or physical action develops into a habit which, repeated frequently enough, becomes an automatic reflex.”

“Be interesting, be enthusiastic . . . and don’t talk too much.”

Norman Vincent Peale was an American minister and author known for his work in popularizing the concept of positive thinking, especially through his best-selling book The Power of Positive Thinking.

Johnny Clasper of Yorkshire, UK was a former brick layer who has turned his knowledge of stone into creative energy.

It’s Never Too Late

“If we change our thoughts from ‘it’s too late’ to, ‘there’s still hope’, we might see some change in the world.”
~ Kellie Elmore

Photo credit: Felicia Simion for The New York Times

More quotes from Kellie:

“Maybe heaven will be a library. Then I will be able to finish my to-read list.”

“When you stop believing one person in the world cannot make a difference, differences in the world will be made.”

Born in the city of Columbus Ohio, Kellie Elmore is an American poet, author, and photographer, She is a self-proclaimed southerner at heart and a writer who believes self-expression is most beautiful in its pure, raw and unedited form.

Felicia Simion is a visual artist and freelance photographer interested in Visual Anthropology and Storytelling.

Speak Up

“Women speaking up for themselves and for those around them is the strongest force we have to change the world.”
~ Melinda Gates

More quotes from Melinda:

“If you are successful, it is because somewhere, sometime, someone gave you a life or an idea that started you in the right direction. Remember also that you are indebted to life until you help some less fortunate person, just as you were helped.”

“A woman with a voice is by definition a strong woman. But the search to find that voice can be remarkably difficult.”

“Connect deeply with others. Our humanity is the one thing that we all have in common.”

Melinda Gates was born on August 15, 1964, in Dallas, Texas. She took a job at Microsoft Corporation in 1987 and married her boss, Bill Gates, in 1994. That year, she and her husband co-founded what was later to become the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2006 she restructured the organization.

Be Prepared

“The world is changed not by the self-regarding, but by men and women prepared to make fools of themselves.”
~ PD James, The Children of Men

More quotes from PD:

“If our sex life were determined by our first youthful experiments, most of the world would be doomed to celibacy.”

“Time didn’t heal, but it anesthetized.”

Phyllis Dorothy James, Baroness James of Holland Park, OBE, FRSA, FRSL, known professionally as P. D. James, was an English crime writer. She rose to fame for her series of detective novels starring police commander and poet Adam Dalgliesh.

Just this one little thing . . .

“I have never been especially impressed by the heroics of people convinced they are about to change the world. I am more awed by those who struggle to make one small difference.”
~ Ellen Goodman

More quotes from Ellen:

“It’s self-deceptive to think we’re in a post-feminist world when we never tried a feminist world.”

“We spend January 1st walking through our lives, room by room, drawing up a list of work to be done, cracks to be patched. Maybe this year, to balance the list, we ought to walk through the rooms of our lives . . . not looking for flaws, but for potential.”

Ellen Goodman born April 11, 1941, is a Pulitzer Prize winning American journalist and syndicated columnist, speaker and commentator.

No Matter What They Tell You . . .

“No matter what people tell you, words and ideas can change the world.”
~ Robin Williams

More quotes from Robin:

“I think the saddest people always try their hardest to make people happy because they know that it’s like to feel absolutely worthless and they don’t want anyone else to feel like that.”

“You know what music is? God’s little reminder that there’s something else besides us in this universe; harmonic connection between all living beings, everywhere, even the stars.”

Robin McLaurin Williams was an American actor and comedian. Born in Chicago, Williams began performing stand-up comedy in San Francisco and Los Angeles during the mid-1970s.

We are the Change We Seek

“Change will not come if we wait for some other person, or if we wait for some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”
~ Barack Obama

More quotes from President Obama:

“The future rewards those who press on. I don’t have time to feel sorry for myself. I don’t have time to complain. I’m going to press on.”

“Issues are never simple. One thing I’m proud of is that very rarely will you hear me simplify the issues.”

Barack Obama is an American politician and attorney who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. He was the first African-American president of the United States.

Plant a seed

“Help young people. Help small guys. Because small guys will be big. Young people will have the seeds you bury in their minds, and when they grow up, they will change the world.”
Jack Ma

Another quote from Jack Ma:
“I’m coming to this world not to work. I want to come to this world to enjoy my life. I don’t want to die in my office. I want to die on the beach.”

Jack Ma is a Chinese business magnate, investor and politician. He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a multinational technology conglomerate.