Marian Anderson

I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country.
Marian Anderson

None of us is responsible for the complexion of his skin. This fact of nature offers no clue to the character or quality of the person underneath.
Marian Anderson

I forgave the DAR many years ago. You lose a lot of time hating people.
Marian Anderson

As long as you keep a person down, some part of you has to be down there to hold him down, so it means you cannot soar as you otherwise might.
Marian Anderson

Prejudice is like a hair across your cheek. You can't see it, you can't find it with your fingers, but you keep brushing at it because the feel of it is irritating.
Marian Anderson

I suppose I might insist on making issues of things. But that is not my nature, and I always bear in mind that my mission is to leave behind me the kind of impression that will make it easier for those who follow.
Marian Anderson

Fear is a disease that eats away at logic and makes man inhuman.
Marian Anderson

Prayer begins where human capacity ends.
Marian Anderson

There are many persons ready to do what is right because in their hearts they know it is right. But they hesitate, waiting for the other fellow to make the make the first move - and he, in turn, waits for you.
Marian Anderson

It is easy to look back, self-indulgently, feeling pleasantly sorry for oneself and saying I didn't have this and I didn't have that. But it is only the grown woman regretting the hardships of a little girl who never thought they were hardships at all. She had the things that really mattered.
Marian Anderson

Leadership should be born out of the understanding of the needs of those who would be affected by it.
Marian Anderson