Check out the best Marcus Garvey quotes that celebrate Black pride, self-reliance, confidence, freedom, and unity.
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Jr. was a Jamaican political activist, journalist, and leader who played a crucial role in the Black nationalist and Pan-African movements.
Born in 1887 in Jamaica, he founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), which aimed to uplift people of African descent worldwide and inspire pride in their identity.
Garvey is best known for promoting Black nationalism, economic independence, and unity across the African diaspora.
Through his passionate speeches and bold ideas, Garvey urged people to stand against oppression, embrace their heritage, and reject the limitations imposed by racism and inequality.
Garvey’s legacy endures through his message of empowerment, freedom, and self-determination, which continues to inspire millions to this day.
Here are the most famous Marcus Garvey quotes to inspire strength, purpose, and a powerful sense of identity.
Top 10 Marcus Garvey Quotes
- “The greatest possession of man is character.” — Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey Quotes - “Progress is the attraction that moves humanity.” — Marcus Garvey
Quotes From Marcus Garvey - “With confidence, you have won before you have started.” — Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey Confidence Quote - “Intelligence rules the world, ignorance carries the burden.” — Marcus Garvey
Quotes By Marcus Garvey - “Do not remove the kinks from your hair–remove them from your brain.” — Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey Quote - “If you have no confidence in self, you are twice defeated in the race of life.” — Marcus Garvey
Best Marcus Garvey Quotes - “Take advantage of every opportunity; where there is none, make it for yourself.” — Marcus Garvey
- “The Black skin is not a badge of shame, but rather a glorious symbol of national greatness.” — Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey Famous Quotes - “The pen is mightier than the sword, but the tongue is mightier than them both put together.” — Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey Sayings - “A people without the knowledge of their past history, origin and culture is like a tree without roots.” — Marcus Garvey
Marcus Garvey History Quote
Best Marcus Garvey Quotes
- “Up, you mighty race, accomplish what you will.” — Marcus Garvey
- “If you get up everyday and you don’t learn you are a fool.” — Marcus Garvey
- “Real men laugh at opposition; real men smile when enemies appear.” — Marcus Garvey
- “To see your enemy and know him is a part of the complete education of man.” — Marcus Garvey
- “Liberate the minds of men and ultimately you will liberate the bodies of men.” — Marcus Garvey
- “To be once defeated is to find cause for an everlasting struggle to reach the top.” — Marcus Garvey
- “What you do today that is worthwhile, inspires others to act at some future time.” — Marcus Garvey
- “Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery, none but ourselves can free our minds!” — Marcus Garvey
- “Pay no attention to the man who criticizes unless he is doing better than what he criticizes” — Marcus Garvey
- “A reading man and woman is a ready man and woman, but a writing man and woman is exact.” — 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
- “If we as a people realized the greatness from which we came we would be less likely to disrespect ourselves.” — Marcus Garvey
- “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
- “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
- “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
Famous Quotes From Marcus Garvey
- “One God. One Aim. One Destiny.” — Marcus Garvey
- “Men who are in earnest are not afraid of consequences.” — Marcus Garvey
- “The enemies are not so much from without as from within the race.” — Marcus Garvey
- “Whatsoever things common to man, that man has done, man can do.” — 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
- “This hour we are stretching forth our hands with the desire to teach the world the true principles of mercy and justice.” — Marcus Garvey
- “I have no desire to take all black people back to Africa; there are blacks who are no good here and will likewise be no good there.” — Marcus Garvey
- “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
- “There is no force like success, and that is why the individual makes all effort to surround himself throughout life with the evidence of it; as of the individual, so should it be of the nation.” — 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
Marcus Garvey Quotes About Confidence, Freedom, & Education
- “Chance has never yet satisfied the hope of a suffering people.” — Marcus Garvey
- “Glorious shall be the battle when the time comes to fight for our people and our race.” — Marcus Garvey
- “You at this time can only be destroyed by yourselves, from within and not from without.” — Marcus Garvey
- “It is only the belief and the confidence we have in a God why man is able to understand his own social institutions, and move and live like a rational human being.” — 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
- “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
- “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
- “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
- “We are going to emancipate ourselves from mental slavery because whilst others might free the body, none but ourselves can free the mind…. 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
- “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
Conclusion
What are your favorite Marcus Garvey quotes and sayings (with images) listed above? If there is a quote that we’ve missed then let us know in the comments section below.
Feel free to share with friends and family on Facebook, Tumblr, X, Instagram, Pinterest, WhatsApp, and more to spread positive vibes.