No one should negotiate their dreams. Dreams must be free to fly high. No government, no legislature, has a right to limit your dreams. You should never agree to surrender your dreams. Jesse Jackson on government
Urban America has been redlined. Government has not offered tax incentives for investment, as it has in a dozen foreign markets. Banks have redlined it. Industries have moved out, they've redlined it. Clearly, to break up the redlining process, there must be incentives to green-line with hedges against risk. Jesse Jackson on government
We've been so preoccupied with getting the government to behave in a fair and democratic way, we were not able to focus on the private sector where most of the jobs are, where most of the wealth and opportunities are. Jesse Jackson on government
Many kids come out of college, they have a credit card and a diploma. They don't know how to buy a house or a car or health insurance or life insurance. They do not know basic microeconomics. Jesse Jackson on health
I mean, the fight for a health care bill to cover all Americans and leave none behind is attacked as being a race appeal, which is not true, but then it's put out in the media as true. Jesse Jackson on health
In many ways, history is marked as 'before' and 'after' Rosa Parks. She sat down in order that we all might stand up, and the walls of segregation came down. Jesse Jackson on history
People internalize, from the jail to student loan debt, to credit card debt, to unemployment to the whole collective. It manifests itself in many ways, in people's home lives, domestic stuff. Jesse Jackson on home
We have to judge politicians by their cumulative score. In one innings they make a great catch, in another they drop the ball. In one they score a home run, in another they strike out. But it is their cumulative batting average that we are interested in. Jesse Jackson on home
In Afghanistan, there is a plan to build democracy hundreds of thousands of troops are protecting it. There is a plan to rebuild and reconstruct there. But many thousands of Americans die from violence and poverty every year and we don't have a plan for reconstruction at home. Jesse Jackson on home
At the end of the day, we must go forward with hope and not backward by fear and division. Jesse Jackson on hope
Today's students can put dope in their veins or hope in their brains. If they can conceive it and believe it, they can achieve it. They must know it is not their aptitude but their attitude that will determine their altitude. Jesse Jackson on hope
For me, Barack Obama's election was a milestone of the most extraordinary kind. On the day he was elected I felt such hope in my heart. I thought we were seeing the beginning of a new era of equal opportunity across race and gender such as America had never known before. Jesse Jackson on hope
Time is neutral and does not change things. With courage and initiative, leaders change things. Jesse Jackson on leadership
Leadership has a harder job to do than just choose sides. It must bring sides together. Jesse Jackson on leadership
Leadership cannot just go along to get along. Leadership must meet the moral challenge of the day. Jesse Jackson on leadership
We must all learn a good lesson - how to live together. That is the new challenge of the new world... learning to co-exist and not co-annihilate. Jesse Jackson on learning
A man who cannot be enticed by money or intimidated by the threat of jail or death has two of the strongest weapons that anyone has to offer. Jesse Jackson on money
Music of all arts should be expansive and inclusive. Jesse Jackson on music
I am not a perfect servant. I am a public servant doing my best against the odds. As I develop and serve, be patient. God is not finished with me yet. Jesse Jackson on patience