John Lewis fought for the vote and for equality by making good trouble. Let these John Lewis quotes inspire you to make a difference
20 Inspiring John Lewis Quotes on Voting, Education and Social Justice
Updated on Apr. 24, 2025
Not all trouble is bad trouble, as statesman and civil rights activist John Lewis proved every day in his long fight for civil and human rights. Lewis’s famous “good trouble” included protesting segregation as an original Freedom Rider, organizing the 1963 March on Washington, and leading a voting rights walk across the Edmund Pettus Bridge—a day that became known as Bloody Sunday as police violently clashed with unarmed, peaceful protesters. It’s no wonder that John Lewis quotes from his long life of activism continue to resonate to this day.
Never one to shy away from a fight, Lewis’s actions and advocacy were pivotal to the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, and he went on to serve more than 30 years in Congress, representing Georgia’s 5th district. He encouraged future generations to pick up the torch, saying: “I want to see young people in America feel the spirit of the 1960s, and find a way to get in the way. To find a way to get in trouble. Good trouble, necessary trouble.“
Reader’s Digest compiled more of the best John Lewis quotes, to encourage you to make good trouble. Keep reading to get inspired to make a difference.
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John Lewis quotes on voting
“As it stands now, the voting section of this bill will not help the thousands of black people who want to vote,” Lewis said. “It will not help the citizens of Mississippi, of Alabama, and Georgia who are qualified to vote but lack a sixth-grade education. ‘One man, one vote’ is the African cry. It is ours, too. It must be ours!” —March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963
“My greatest fear is that one day we may wake up and our democracy is gone. We cannot afford to let that happen.” —John Lewis: Good Trouble, 2020 documentary
“Sometimes you have to not just dream about what could be—you get out and push, and you pull, and you preach. And you create a climate and environment to get those in high places, to get men and women of goodwill in power to act.” —Moyers & Company, 2013
“I gave a little blood on that bridge in Selma, Alabama for the right to vote. I am not going to stand by and let the Supreme Court take the right to vote away from us.” —50th anniversary of the March on Washington, 2013
“Black men and women were not allowed to register to vote. My own mother, my own father, my grandfather, and my uncles and aunts could not register to vote because each time they attempted to register to vote, they were told they could not pass the literacy test.” —National Public Radio, 2009
“Your vote is precious, almost sacred. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union. … Too many people struggled, suffered, and died to make it possible for every American to exercise their right to vote.” —PBS NewsHour, 2012
“Selma helped make it possible for hundreds and thousands of people in the South to become registered voters and encouraged people all across America to become participants in a democratic process.” —USA Today, 2015
“To make it hard, to make it difficult almost impossible for people to cast a vote is not in keeping with the democratic process.” —The Atlantic, 2012
“Some of us gave a little blood for the right to participate in the democratic process.” —Goodwin College, 2014
“In Selma, Alabama, in 1965, only 2.1% of blacks of voting age were registered to vote. The only place you could attempt to register was to go down to the courthouse. You had to pass a so-called literacy test. And they would tell people over and over again that they didn’t or couldn’t pass the literacy test.” —Democracy Now!, 2012
“I remember back in the 1960s—late ’50s, really—reading a comic book called ‘Martin Luther King Jr. and the Montgomery Story.‘ Fourteen pages. It sold for 10 cents. And this little book inspired me to attend non-violence workshops, to study about Gandhi, about Thoreau, to study Martin Luther King, Jr., to study civil disobedience.” —USA Today, 2015
John Lewis quotes on social justice
“Get in good trouble, necessary trouble, and help redeem the soul of America.” —speech at the Edmund Pettus Bridge, Selma, Alabama, March 2020
“Ours is not the struggle of one day, one week, or one year. Ours is not the struggle of one judicial appointment or presidential term. Ours is the struggle of a lifetime, or maybe even many lifetimes, and each one of us in every generation must do our part.” —Across That Bridge: A Vision for Change and the Future of America, by John Lewis
“Freedom is not a state; it is an act. It is not some enchanted garden perched high on a distant plateau where we can finally sit down and rest. Freedom is the continuous action we all must take.” —Across That Bridge: Life Lessons and a Vision for Change, by John Lewis
“Do not get lost in a sea of despair. Be hopeful, be optimistic. Our struggle is not the struggle of a day, a week, a month, or a year, it is the struggle of a lifetime. Never, ever be afraid to make some noise and get in good trouble, necessary trouble.” —post on X, June 2018
“Many of us that got caught up in the civil rights movement saw our involvement as an extension of our faith. … Without our faith, without the spirit and spiritual bearings and underpinning, we would not have been so successful. Without prayer, without faith in the Almighty, the civil rights movement would have been like a bird without wings.” —PBS Religion & Ethics NewsWeekly, 2004
“We have been too quiet for too long. There comes a time when you have to say something. You have to make a little noise. You have to move your feet. This is the time.” —U.S. House of Representatives sit-in after the Pulse nightclub shooting in Orlando, 2016
“We need someone who will stand up and speak up and speak out for the people who need help, for people who are being discriminated against. And it doesn’t matter whether they are Black or White, Latino, Asian or Native American, whether they are straight or gay, Muslim, Christian, or Jews. We all live in the same house, the American house.” —U.S. Senate confirmation hearing of Jeff Sessions, 2017
“To those who have said, ‘Be patient and wait,’ we have long said that we cannot be patient. We do not want our freedom gradually, but we want to be free now! We are tired. We are tired of being beaten by policemen. We are tired of seeing our people locked up in jail over and over again.” —March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, 1963
“It was very moving, very moving to see hundreds and thousands of people from all over America and around the world take to the streets to speak up, to speak out, to get into what I call ‘good trouble,’ but to get in the way, and because of the action of young and old, Black, white, Latino, Asian-American, and Native American, because people cried and prayed, people will never, ever forget what happened and how it happened. It is my hope that we are on our way to greater change.” —CBS News, 2020
Why trust us
At Reader’s Digest, we’ve been sharing our favorite quotes for over 100 years. The sayings and quips that appear in the magazine’s “Quotable Quotes” (formerly “Remarkable Remarks”) are curated from interviews and essays originally published in the magazine, reprints from trusted titles and other verified sources. For this piece on John Lewis quotes, Lynnette Nicholas tapped her experience as a journalist to ensure that all information is accurate. We’ve gone the extra step and had Ambrose Martose, a fact-checker with 20-plus years of experience researching for national publications including National Geographic Adventure and Popular Mechanics, verify that all quotes are attributed correctly and have credible sourcing. Read more about our team, our contributors and our editorial policies.
