These inspiring Shirley Chisholm quotes will inspire you to fight for what you believe in no matter what.

Shirley Anita Chisholm was an African-American politician, educator, and author who made history in 1968 by becoming the first African-American congresswoman. Chisholm served in the United States House of Representatives for seven terms, representing New York State.

She made history again in 1972 when she competed for the Democratic presidential nomination, being the first woman and African American to do so from one of the two major political parties.

Chisholm was born on November 30, 1924, in Brooklyn, New York. She graduated from Brooklyn College in 1946 and began her career as a teacher.

She also holds a master’s degree in early childhood education from Columbia University and has served as a consultant for the New York City Division of Day Care.

You don’t make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering, and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Don’t list to those who say you can’t. Listen to the voice inside yourself that says, I can. ~Shirley Chisholm

In the end, anti-black, anti-female, and all forms of discrimination are equivalent to the same thing: anti-humanism. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Defeat should not be the source of discouragement, but a stimulus to keep plotting. ~ Shirley Chisholm

I ran for the presidency, despite hopeless odds, to demonstrate my sheer will and refusal to accept the status quo. ~ Shirley Chisholm

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I have never cared too much about what people say. What I am interested in is what they do. ~ Shirley Chisholm

I’ve always met more discrimination being a woman than being black…men are men. ~ 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

I am and always will be a catalyst for change. ~ Shirley Chisholm

At present, our country needs women’s idealism and determination, perhaps more in politics than anywhere else. ~ Shirley Chisholm

When morality comes up against profit, it is seldom that profit loses. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm Quotes on Education

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.

I’m looking to no man walking this earth for approval of what I’m doing. – 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.

We must reject not only the stereotypes that others hold of us but also the stereotypes that we hold of ourselves. – Shirley Chisholm.

Be as bold as the first man or woman to eat an oyster. – Shirley Chisholm.

Some fine men are in Congress, but too few, trying to do a responsible job. – Shirley Chisholm.

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We have been so patient and loyal and what has it gotten us? We want our full share now. – Shirley Chisholm.

To label family planning and legal abortion programs ‘genocide’ is male rhetoric, for male ears. – Shirley Chisholm.

Women have learned to flex their political muscles. You got to flex that muscle to get what you want. – 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 love America not for what she is, but for what she can become. – Shirley Chisholm.

Some members of Congress are among the best actors in the world. – Shirley Chisholm.

Shirley Chisholm Quotes Seat at the Table

The emotional, sexual, and psychological stereotyping of females begins when the doctor says, ‘it’s a girl.’ ~ Shirley Chisholm

America has the laws and the material resources it takes to ensure justice for all its people. What it lacks is the heart, the humanity. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Service is the rent that you pay for a room on this earth. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Women must become revolutionary. This cannot be evolution but revolution. ~ 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

Be as bold as the first man or [woman] to eat an oyster. ~ Shirley Chisholm

That’s what’s wrong with the country. There are too many ‘good soldiers’ accepting too many bad decisions. ~ Shirley Chisholm

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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

I don’t measure America by its achievement but by its potential. ~ Shirley Chisholm

As there were no black Founding Fathers, there were no founding mothers – a great pity, on both counts. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Some members of Congress are among the best actors in the world. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Any time things appear to be going better, you have overlooked something. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm Quotes Folding Chair Meaning

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

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

Racism keeps people who are being managed from finding out the truth through contact with each other. ~ 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

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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

All Americans are prisoners of racial prejudice. ~ Shirley Chisholm

There is little place in the political scheme of things for an independent, creative personality, for a fighter. Anyone who takes that role must pay a price. ~ Shirley Chisholm

We have been so patient and loyal … and what has it gotten us? We want our full share now. ~ Shirley Chisholm

I’d like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts. That’s how I’d like to be remembered. ~ Shirley Chisholm

I had met far more discrimination because I am a woman than because I am black. ~ Shirley Chisholm

One distressing thing is the way men react to women who assert their equality: their ultimate weapon is to call them unfeminine. They think she is anti-male; they even whisper that she’s probably a lesbian. ~ Shirley Chisholm

To label family planning and legal abortion programs genocide is male rhetoric, for male ears. ~ Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm Quotes on Voting

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

There is little place in the political scheme of things for an independent, creative personality, for a fighter. Anyone who takes that role must pay a price. – Shirley Chisholm

You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty. – Shirley Chisholm

A people that values its privileges above its principles soon loses both. – 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

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I’m looking to no man walking this earth for approval of what I’m doing. – 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

Some fine men are in Congress but too few, trying to do a responsible job. – Shirley Chisholm

We have been so patient and loyal … and what has it gotten us? We want our full share now. – Shirley Chisholm

Rhetoric never won a revolution yet. – Shirley Chisholm

I’d like them to say that Shirley Chisholm had guts. That’s how I’d like to be remembered. – Shirley Chisholm

Be as bold as the first man or woman to eat an oyster. – Shirley Chisholm

I had met far more discrimination because I am a woman than because I am black. – Shirley Chisholm