For way too long the politicians and people in power have got away with not doing anything at all to fight the climate crisis and ecological crisis.

The black press, some liberal sportswriters, and even a few politicians were banging away at those Jim Crow barriers in baseball. I never expected the walls to come tumbling down in my lifetime.

Particularly conservative Christians, I was very angry that they were not involved more in the AIDS emergency.

Even when folks are hitting you over the head, you can’t stop marching. Even when they’re turning the hoses on you, you can’t stop.

Now we’re in the midst of not just advocating for change, not just calling for change – we’re doing the grinding, sometimes frustrating work of delivering change – inch by inch, day by day.

What I’m asking for is hard. It’s easier to be cynical; to accept that change isn’t possible, and politics is hopeless, and to believe that our voices and actions don’t matter. But if we give up now, then we forsake a better future.

I am worrying about my country. I feel I have a responsibility as a novelist to do something.

My parents met when they were graduate students at UC Berkeley in the 1960s. They were both active in the civil-rights movement.

Communists have always played an active role in the fight by colonial countries for their freedom, because the short-term objects of Communism would always correspond with the long-term objects of freedom movements.

Politicians also have no leisure, because they are always aiming at something beyond political life itself, power and glory, or happiness.

It’s a blessing that South Africa has a man like Nelson Mandela.

In order to have your voice be heard in Washington, you have to make some little contribution.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

It felt like I was the only one who cared about the climate and the ecological crisis. My parents didn’t care about it, my classmates didn’t care about it, my relatives didn’t care about this. I mean nobody I knew cared about this and I felt like I was the only one.

The best thing about my protest has been to see how more and more people have been coming and getting involved.

Until we’re educating every kid in a fantastic way, until every inner city is cleaned up, there is no shortage of things to do.

We are not going to be satisfied by politicians saying ‚we support you‘ and then walking away. We won’t be satisfied until they meet our demands and act. That’s why simply taking a selfie or posting support on Twitter isn’t enough. That’s why we have to keep striking.

As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest.

If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressor. If an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality.

When I was 11 I became very depressed. It had a lot to do with the climate and ecological crisis. I thought everything was just so wrong and nothing was happening and there’s no point in anything.

In liberal logic, if life is unfair then the answer is to turn more tax money over to politicians, to spend in ways that will increase their chances of getting reelected.

The main message of Climate Revolution is that climate change is caused by the rotten financial system we’ve got, designed to create poverty and rip off any profits for a small amount of rich people. Meanwhile, it destroys the earth.

The world is a dangerous place to live; not because of the people who are evil, but because of the people who don’t do anything about it.

Every once in a while, I get mad. ‚The Lorax‘ came out of my being angry. The ecology books I’d read were dull… In ‚The Lorax,‘ I was out to attack what I think are evil things and let the chips fall where they might.

And we have done more in the two and a half years that I’ve been in here than the previous 43 Presidents to uphold that principle, whether it’s ending ‚don’t ask, don’t tell,‘ making sure that gay and lesbian partners can visit each other in hospitals, making sure that federal benefits can be provided to same-sex couples.

Some people say that I should study to become a climate scientist so that I can ‚solve the climate crisis.‘ But the climate crisis has already been solved. We already have all the facts and solutions. All we have to do is to wake up and change.

My son Emilio is running for Congress to continue the fight for social justice.

Civil disobedience is – it’s no fun.

I was not an activist.

I feel very happy to be living in Berkeley because there are a lot of people who are politically active here.

Some people say that the climate crisis is something that we will have created, but that is not true, because if everyone is guilty then no one is to blame. And someone is to blame.

I used to always fight for human rights. I still fight for Leonard Peltier, who’s spent 35 years in jail for a crime he didn’t commit.

I think politicians really go with the tide.

I don’t like politicians, and I don’t like politics. I definitely don’t want to be associated with any of them.

The sweltering summer of the Negro’s legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

Everybody is a political person, whether you say something or you are silent. A political attitude is not whether you go to parliament; it’s how you deal with your life, with your surroundings.

Unlike some politicians, I can admit to a mistake.

Print some money and give it to us for the rain forests.

During the 60’s, I was, in fact, very concerned about the civil rights movement.

Fight for the things that you care about, but do it in a way that will lead others to join you.

Actually oddly enough, I think my work, the activism, will be forgotten. And I hope it will. Because I hope those problems will have gone away.

Get up, stand up, Stand up for your rights. Get up, stand up, Don’t give up the fight.

I’m not anti-middle-class in the slightest. Look at me! I am very pro people putting time and money and effort into trying to improve the world.

The symbolism of the climate strike is that if you adults don’t give a damn about my future, I won’t either.

Some say we should not engage in activism. Instead we should leave everything to our politicians and just vote for a change instead. But what do we do when there is no political will? What do we do when the politics needed are nowhere in sight?

There is no question that liberals do an impressive job of expressing concern for blacks. But do the intentions expressed in their words match the actual consequences of their deeds?

The reason why I am proud of my part in the punk movement is that I think it really did implant a message that was already there. The hippies told it to me, but punk made it something cool for people to stand up for, which is that we do not believe government, that we are against government.

In terms of my involvement in ‚don’t ask, don’t tell‘ and marriage equality and anti-bullying and social emotional learning in schools – these are all things that arise out of my relationship with the world and with my fans.

I want the politicians to prioritise the climate question, focus on the climate and treat it like a crisis.

I’ve never written a political song. Songs can’t save the world. I’ve gone through all that.

A black person grows up in this country – and in many places – knowing that racism will be as familiar as salt to the tongue. Also, it can be as dangerous as too much salt. I think that you must struggle for betterment for yourself and for everyone.

The ‚peace movement‘ exists only in the fantasies of the paranoid.

Many people seem to have this double moral. They say one thing and then do another thing. They say that the climate crisis is very important and yet they do nothing about it.

I like to complain and do nothing to make things better.

The right of every American to first-class citizenship is the most important issue of our time.

For years, decades, the system has taught us to stay quiet. They’ve made us believe that those who take to the streets to speak up are crazy, criminals, troublemakers.

Until the men of action clear out the talkers we who have social consciences are at the mercy of those who have none.

I think that all people who feel that there is injustice in the world anywhere should learn as much of it as they can bear. That is our duty.

In the political system, we are a team; politics and bureaucracy, we are a team. The politicians, bureaucrats and the people, we are a team.

I’m going to stay active as long as I can politically, and with the Carter Center primarily, and if I’m able mentally and physically, will continue to be quite active.

One of the problems of organizing in the North, in the rich countries, is that people tend to think – even the activists – that instant gratification is required. You constantly hear: ‚Look I went to a demonstration, and we didn’t stop the war so what’s the use of doing it again?‘