Elijah Eugene Cummings was an American politician and civil rights advocate who served in the United States House of Representatives for Maryland’s 7th congressional district from 1996 until his death in 2019, which he was succeeded by his predecessor Kweisi Mfume. A member of the Democratic Party, Cummings previously served in the Maryland House of Delegates from 1983 to 1996. These Elijah Cummings quotes will motivate you.
Best Elijah Cummings Quotes
- “Our children are the living messages we send to a future we will ever see… Will we rob them of their destiny? Will we rob them of their dreams? No – we will not do that.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Every time something bad happens to me, I don’t ask the question, ‘Why did it happen to me?’ The question I ask is, ‘Why did it happen for me?”~Elijah Cummings
- “I’m going to try and make people realize that in order to live the life they are living, they need to have democracy, and it’s being threatened.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Our decisions about transportation determine much more than where roads or bridges or tunnels or rail lines will be built. They determine the connections and barriers that people will encounter in their daily lives – and thus how hard or easy it will be for people to get where they need and want to go.”~Elijah Cummings
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“You must have confidence in your competence.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Americans of our own time – minority and majority Americans alike – need the continued guidance that the Voting Rights Act provides. We have come a long way, but more needs to be done.”~Elijah Cummings
- “My life is based on pain, passion, and purpose.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I’m going to do what feeds my soul.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Most people who are hating on you, they are not worried about where you are. They’re worried about where you’re going.”~Elijah Cummings
- “By providing students in our Nation with such an education, we help save our children from the clutches of poverty, crime, drugs, and hopelessness, and we help safeguard our Nation’s prosperity for generations yet unborn.”~Elijah Cummings
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“African-American women account for 67 percent of all newly diagnosed female AIDS cases.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I was in special ed, but I felt like I was a caged bird. I felt like I could do better. I made sure I mastered my special ed lessons. I made sure I listened to my teacher. I made sure I did my homework, but I had to do a little extra.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I don’t like the idea of people following me around.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Typically diagnosed during childhood and adolescent years, juvenile diabetes, also referred to as Type I diabetes, currently affects more than 3 million Americans and more then 13,000 children are diagnosed each year.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I think it’s important for industry to do well. But I want them to do well and do good at the same time.”~Elijah Cummings
- “It was to carry the American democratic journey beyond these failings that Black citizens and civil rights workers risked unemployment, violence and death.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Voting is crucial, and I don’t give a damn how you look at it: there are efforts to stop people from voting. That’s not right. This is not Russia. This is the United States of America.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I realized that with African American people, where we’ve been blocked from being all that God meant for us to be, I don’t have time to be patient.”~Elijah Cummings
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“I have a moral conscience that is real central.”~Elijah Cummings
- “Our country is slowly but surely moving – and I’ve seen it over and over again in many instances in government – toward a culture of mediocrity.”~Elijah Cummings
- “More than 26,000 lives may be lost to the effects of drug abuse this year. This tragic impact is felt in communities across this great nation. Sadly many of these deaths occur among our young people.”~Elijah Cummings
- “The question is always whether all of Baltimore will rise together or whether we will leave some behind.”~Elijah Cummings
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“Price gouging for drugs that treat cancer in children is simply unconscionable.”~Elijah Cummings
- “The long-standing, non-partisan and publicly-declared foreign policy commitment of the United States is clear. We will do whatever is required to prevent Iran from possessing nuclear weapons. Our nation has not ruled out any option that may be required to achieve this objective, including the use of military force.”~Elijah Cummings
- “In the same vein as these events, National Minority Health Month also serves as a reminder of how much work needs to be done to eliminate health and healthcare inequities.”~Elijah Cummings
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“There are two Baltimores. There are clearly two Baltimores.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I try to remind people that there are a lot of good people, all colors. Then there’s some bad ones, too. But there’s a lot of good people who really care.”~Elijah Cummings
- “The U.S. Census Bureau acknowledged this fact when it reported that those with a bachelor’s degree earn on average $1 million more over their lifetime than those with only a high school diploma.”~Elijah Cummings
- “I’m a lawyer, I practiced for many years, and so I believe in the Fifth Amendment.”~Elijah Cummings
- “When I became a lawyer, no one asked me if I had spent some time in special ed. All they wanted was a good lawyer.”~Elijah Cummings
- “You have to understand – I come from a neighborhood where ‘The Wire’ was filmed.”~Elijah Cummings
