Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. ONH was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League (UNIA-ACL, commonly known as UNIA), through which he declared himself Provisional President of Africa. Ideologically a black nationalist and Pan-Africanist, his ideas came to be known as Garveyism. These Marcus Garvey quotes will motivate you.
Best Marcus Garvey Quotes
- “Never forget that intelligence rules the world and ignorance carries the burden. Therefore, remove yourself as far as possible from ignorance and seek as far as possible to be intelligent.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “We must give up the silly idea of folding our hands and waiting on God to do everything for us. If God had intended for that, then he would not have given us a mind. Whatever you want in life, you must make up your mind to do it for yourself.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind. Mind is your only ruler, sovereign. The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Always try to associate with people from whom you can learn something. All the knowledge that you want is in the world, and all you have to do is go and seek it.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Ambition is the desire to go forward and improve one’s condition. It is a burning flame that lights up the life of the individual and makes him see himself in another state. To be ambitious is to be great in mind and soul. To want that which is worth while and strive for it. To go on without looking back, reaching to that which gives satisfaction.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none, make it for yourself.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“If we as a people realized the greatness from which we came we would be less likely to disrespect ourselves.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “God does not… give people positions or jobs or… good conditions such as they desire; they must do that for themselves.. God does not build cities nor towns nor nations, nor homes, nor factories; men and people do that and all those who want must work for themselves and pray to God to give them strength to do it.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “A race that is solely dependent upon another for economic existence sooner or later dies. As we have in the past been living upon the mercies shown by others, and by the chances obtainable, and have suffered there from, so we will in the future suffer if an effort is not made now to adjust our own affairs.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “I trust that you will so live today as to realize that you are masters of your own destiny, masters of your fate; if there is anything you want in this world, it is for you to strike out with confidence and faith in self and reach for it.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Every man has a right to his own opinion. Every race has a right to its own action; therefore let no man persuade you against your will, let no other race influence you against your own.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“Intelligence rules the world, ignorance carries the burden.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The man who is not able to develop and use his mind is bound to be the slave of the other man who uses his mind” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Do not remove the kinks from your hair–remove them from your brain.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The white man has succeeded in subduing the world by forcing everybody to think his way….The white man’s propaganda has made him the master of the world, and all those who have come in contact with it and accepted it have become his slaves.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The traitor of other races is generally confined to the mediocre or irresponsible individual, but, unfortunately, the traitors among the Negro race are generally to be found among the men with the highest place in education and society, the fellows who call themselves leaders.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“Be Black, buy Black, think Black and all else will take care of itself.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The thing to do is to get organized; keep separated and you will be exploited, you will be robbed, you will be killed. Get organized and you will compel the world to respect you.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Among some of the organized methods used to control the world is the thing known and called PROPAGANDA. Propaganda has done more to defeat the good intentions of races and nations than even open warfare. Propaganda is a method or medium used by organized peoples to convert others against their will. We of the Negro race are suffering more than any other race in the world from propaganda… propaganda to destroy our hopes, our ambitions, and our confidence in self.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “History teaches us no race, no people, no nation has ever been freed through cowardice, through cringing, through bowing and scraping, but all that has been achieved to the glory of mankind, to the glory and honor of races and nations was through the manly determination and effort of those who lead and those who are led.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Lift up yourselves, men, take yourselves out of the mire and hitch your hopes to the very stars themselves. Let no man pull you down, let no man destroy your ambition, because man is but your companion, your equal; man is your brother; he is not your Lord, he is not your sovereign master.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“To see your enemy and know him is a part of the complete education of man.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “There can be no peace among men and nations, so long as the strong continues to oppress the weak, so long as injustice is done to other peoples, just so long we will have cause for war, and make a lasting peace an impossibility.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “It is by education that we become prepared for our duties and responsibilities in life. If one is badly educated he must naturally fail in the proper assumption and practice of his duties and responsibilities.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement.” ~ Marcus Garvey”Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Let us not try to be the best or worst of others, but let us make the effort to be the best of ourselves.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “When all else fails to organize the people, conditions will.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “What you do today that is worthwhile, inspires others to act at some future time.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“The greatest possession of man is character” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “If the Negro is not careful he will drink in all the poison of modern civilization and die from the effects of it.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “This propaganda of disassociating Western Negroes from Africa is not a new one. For many years white propagandists have been printing tons of literature to impress scattered Ethiopia, especially that portion within their civilization, with the idea that Africa is a despised place, inhabited by savages, and cannibals, where no civilized human being should go, especially black civilized human beings. This propaganda is promulgated for the cause that is being realized today. That cause is COLONIAL EXPANSION for the white nations of the world.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The value of knowledge is to use it. It is not humanly possible that a person can retain all knowledge of the world, but if a person knows how to search for all the knowledge of the world, he will find it when he wants it.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“You must not mistake lip service and noise for bravery and service.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Before we can properly help the people, we have to destroy the old education… that teaches them that somebody is keeping them back and that God has forgotten them and that they can’t rise because of their color.. we can only build… with faith in ourselves and with self-reliance, believing in our own possibilities, that we can rise to the highest in God’s creation.” ~ Marcus Garvey quotes
- “The ends you serve that are selfish will take you no further than yourself but the ends you serve that are for all, in common, will take you into eternity.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none, make it for yourself, and let history record that as we toiled laboriously and courageously, we worked to live gloriously.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“The pen is mightier than the sword, but the tongue is mightier than them both put together.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Be as proud of your race today as our as our fathers were in days of yore. We have beautiful history, and we shall create another in the future that will astonish the world.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Liberate the minds of men and ultimately you will liberate the bodies of men.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “The Greatest Weapon Used Against the Negro is Disorganization.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Africa with 400 million Black People can do it. If you cannot do it, if you are not prepared to do it then you
will DIE. You race of cowards, you race of imbeciles, you race of good-for-nothings, if you cannot do what other men have done, what other nations have done, what other races have done, THEN YOU HAD BETTER DIE.” ~ Marcus Garvey - “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life. With confidence, you have won even before you have started.” ~ Marcus Garvey
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“A man’s bread and butter is only insured when he works for it.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “God and Nature first made us what we are, and then out of our own created genius we make ourselves what we want to be. Follow always that great law. Let the sky and God be our limit and Eternity our measurement.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Unite all people of African ancestry of the world to one great body to establish a country and absolute government of their own.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Hungry men have no respect for law, authority or human life.” ~ Marcus Garvey
- “Look for me in the whirlwind or the storm, look for me all around you, for, with God’s grace, I shall come and bring with me countless millions of black slaves who have died in America and
the West Indies and the millions in Africa to aid you in the fight for Liberty, Freedom, and Life.” ~ Marcus Garvey
