Kwanzaa Quotes

Each of us is a being in himself and a being in society, each of us needs to understand himself and understand others, take care of others and be taken care of himself.

Men, like nails, lose their usefulness when they lose their direction and begin to bend.

We build our temples for tomorrow, strong as we know how, and we stand on top of the mountain, free within ourselves.

Do what you do. This Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, New Year's Eve, Twelfth Night, Valentine's Day, Mardi Gras, St. Paddy's Day, and every day henceforth. Just do what you do. Live out your life and your traditions on your own terms. If it offends others, so be it. That's their problem.

Faith is like radar that sees through the fog.

The [Kwanzaa] holiday, then will of necessity, be engaged as an ancient and living cultural tradition which reflects the best of African thought and practice in its reaffirmation of the dignity of the human person in community and culture, the well-being of family and community, the integrity of the environment and our kinship with it, and the rich resource and meaning of a people's culture.

Faith makes the discords of the present the harmonies of the future.

One is a member of a country, a profession, a civilization, a religion. One is not just a man.

A man is called selfish not for pursuing his own good, but for neglecting his neighbor's.

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

The seven principles of Kwanzaa - unity, self-determinat ion, collective work and responsibility, cooperative economics, purpose, creativity and faith -- teach us that when we come together to strengthen our families and communities and honor the lesson of the past, we can face the future with joy and optimism.

No man is free who is not master of himself.

Most powerful is he who has himself in his own power.

Many Americans celebrate both Christmas and Xmas. Others celebrate one or the other. And some of us celebrate holidays that, although unconnected with the [winter] solstice, occur near it: Ramadan, Hanukkah and Kwanzaa.

The moment we break faith with one another, the sea engulfs us and the light goes out.

We cannot live only for ourselves. A thousand fibers connect us with our fellow men.

Service to others is the rent you pay for your room here on earth.

Brad got me this great thing for Christmas. It's a bookshelf that has a book on every religion. That's how we plan to raise our kids. Teach them about all religions. They can pick one or be a student of all of them. We'll celebrate Kwanzaa for our girl. We'll celebrate moon and water festivals for our boys. We'll take them to temples in certain countries. Also to church.

Independence? That's middle class blasphemy. We are all dependent on one another, every soul of us on earth.

Ron Karenga wrote a book back in 1968, and in that book, he said that the reason, part of his motivation for starting Kwanzaa was because he felt that Christianity was the white man religion, and he didn't like Jews, and so he made up this lie. And he called it an African holiday because he was concerned that if he didn't call it an African holiday, that black Americans would not participate in it.

My white girl Veronica, black girl Monica, Got me celebrating Christma-Hanu-Kwanzaa-kah, Rocking dashikis with a yarmulke.

I was very disappointed, very disappointed when President [George W.] Bush proclaimed Kwanzaa as a national holiday. Prior to that, Bill Clinton did the same thing.

No man is an island, entire of itself; every man is a piece of the continent.

Remember upon the conduct of each depends the fate of all.

Unity, to be real, must stand the severest strain without breaking.

Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. [...] You only need a heart full of grace.

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve.

You only need a heart full of grace

So powerful is the light of unity that it can illuminate the whole earth.

A business that makes nothing but money is a poor business.

Under capitalism everybody is the architect of his own fortune.

We do not inherit the earth from our ancestors; we borrow it from our children

In all things that are purely social we can be as separate as the fingers, yet one as the hand in all things essential to mutual progress.

I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live, it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can.

You cannot contribute anything to the ideal condition of mind and heart known as Brotherhood, however much you preach, posture, or agree, unless you live it.

I say 'Merry Christmas' to people I don't know, or to people I know are Christians. I say 'Happy Hanukkah' to people I know to be or suspect to be Jewish. And I don't say 'Happy Kwanzaa,' because I think African Americans get enough insults all year round.

I don't know what the future may hold, but I know who holds the future.

We all should know that diversity makes for a rich tapestry, and we must understand that all the threads of the tapestry are equal in value no matter what their color.

For Africa to me... is more than a glamorous fact. It is a historical truth. No man can know where he is going unless he knows exactly where he has been and exactly how he arrived at his present place.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

The time is always right to do what is right.

Many hands make light work.

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

The harder I work the more I live.

Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.

If you have a purpose in which you can believe, there's no end to the amount of things you can accomplish.

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone.

We don't accomplish anything in this world alone... and whatever happens is the result of the whole tapestry of one's life and all the weavings of individual threads form one to another that creates something.

Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.