Listen Up!

“I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.”

—Rosa Parks (1913-2005), civil rights activist

“We must use our lives to make the world a better place to live, not just to acquire things. That is what we are put on the earth for.”

—Dolores Huerta (1930-  ), labor leader and civil rights activist

“Real change, enduring change, happens one step at a time.”

—Ruth Bader Ginsburg (1933-2020), U.S. Supreme Court justice

“Technique and ability alone do not get you to the top; it is the willpower that is the most important.”

—Junko Tabei (1939-2016), mountaineer; first woman to reach the top of the Seven Summits, the highest mountain on each continent

“Cows run away from the storm while the buffalo charges toward it—and gets through it quicker. Whenever I’m confronted with a tough challenge . . . I become the buffalo.”

—Wilma Mankiller (1945-2010), first female chief of a major Native American tribe

“I raise up my voice—not so that I can shout but so that those without a voice can be heard. . . . We cannot all succeed when half of us are held back.”

—Malala Yousafzai (1997-  ), activist for human rights and girls’ education