Harvey Milk’s quotes are powerful symbols of the ongoing fight for LGBTQ+ rights. Each phrase weaves empowerment, challenging societal norms and fostering unity.
Milk’s words remain relevant, prompting reflection on progress and the road ahead. Beyond a superficial look, exploring these quotes delves into the man, the era, and the socio-political landscape that shaped his advocacy.
This journey uncovers nuanced meanings, making it clear that these words are not just on paper but catalysts for dialogue and instruments of change.
Ready to dive into the profound world of Harvey Milk’s quotes? Let’s unravel the tapestry of wisdom that continues to shape our collective consciousness.
Harvey Milk Quotes
“Hope will never be silent.”
“All young people, regardless of sexual orientation or identity, deserve a safe and supportive environment in which to achieve their full potential.”
“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.”
“It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.”
“I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but life is not worth living without it. And you… And you… And you… Gotta give ’em hope.”
“If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.”
“The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!”
“It’s not my victory, it’s yours and yours and yours. If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We’ve given them hope.”
“It’s not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power… It’s about giving those young people out there in the barrios hope.”
“The only thing they have to look forward to is hope, and you have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great.”
“I would like to see every gay doctor come out, every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out, stand up and let that world know. That would do more to end prejudice overnight than anybody would imagine.”
“If you’re not voting, you’re not doing your duty. It’s the obligation that goes along with that freedom you’re so proud of.”
“Burst down those closet doors once and for all, and stand up and start to fight.”
“I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have tasted. I have a lot more to drink.”
“You have to give people hope. A lot of young people don’t have a lot of hope. They don’t have a lot to look forward to.”
“It takes no imagination to live within your means.”
“If you’re in the middle of a battle, there are things you’ve got to take care of first. But there will be time, once this is over, to continue the war and to win.”
“It’s not easy to be hated and harassed. It’s not easy to be the symbol of something you never intended.”
“If a gay person makes a choice to be gay, that is their god-given right, but if they are punished for making that choice, then the government is acting as a fascist state and they must be stopped.”
“It’s not just the government that is suppressing gay activism. It’s the system.”
“Every gay person must come out. As difficult as it is, you must tell your immediate family. You must tell your relatives. You must tell your friends, if indeed they are your friends.”
“The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it.”
“You’re going to have a lot of hard times in life, but those hard times will come again… if you take it like it’s coming, then it’s not so hard.”
“All over the country, they’re reading about me, and the story doesn’t center on me being gay. It’s just about a gay person who is doing his job.”
“It’s not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power… It’s about giving those young people out there in the barrios hope.”
“If I turned around every time somebody called me a faggot, I’d be walking backward – and I don’t want to walk backward.”
“You have to let them know that there is hope.”
“The fact is that more people have been slaughtered in the name of religion than for any other single reason. That, that my friends, that is true perversion!”
Best Harvey Milk Quotes
“I ask this… If there should be an assassination, I would hope that five, ten, one hundred, a thousand would rise. I would like to see every gay lawyer, every gay architect come out – If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door…”
“All men are created equal. Now matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.”
“Politics is theater. It doesn’t matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, ‘I’m here, pay attention to me.'”
“It’s not the fact that we are gay that should make us proud. It’s that we are surviving.”
“When you break down the preconceptions, that’s when you get to be dangerous.”
“You’ve got to elect gay people to office to be visible. Too many people think that they don’t know anyone gay. They think, ‘Well, he acts normal!’ And then at the end of the conversation, they say, ‘Oh, I didn’t know you were gay.'”
“The fact is, every time someone like me gets elected, or every time a gay person gets elected to public office, it opens up another door. We have to keep knocking, and we have to keep opening doors.”
“You must come out. Come out… to your parents… I know that it is hard and will hurt them but think about how they will hurt you in the voting booth!”
“We’re coming out in order to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions. We’re coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I’m going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out.”
“It’s not just the government that’s suppressing gay activism. It’s the system.”
“I’m not a candidate. I’m part of a movement. The movement is the candidate. I’m part of hope.”
“You can make a difference if you don’t get so caught up in yourself.”
“We’re going to get our rights. Remember, we had to take a step backward to go forward in the ’60s. We might have to take a step backward to go forward again.”
“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.”
“The more gay people come out, the better it is for everybody. It’s the people who won’t come out and admit they’re gay that are part of the conspiracy.”
“The only way to change is to get out there and get involved. You can’t sit back and just complain and criticize.”
“I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have tasted.”
“If you help elect more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone.”
“I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living.”
“Coming out is the most political thing you can do.”
“You have to let them know that there is hope.”
“I’m Harvey Milk and I’m here to recruit you.”
“I don’t know how long I’ll live. But as long as I live, I’m going to be Harvey Milk. And if they come for me, and when they come for me, they’ll come with everything they have. But when they come, they’ll know I’m not alone.”
“The only thing they have to look forward to is hope.”
“It takes no compromise to give people their rights…it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”
“If you had said to me 10 years ago that gays would have their rights, I would have laughed you out of the room. I can’t believe this happened in my lifetime. We have our rights.”
“When I’m at the Port Authority Bus Terminal, and I see the masses of humanity from all over the world coming here, I think about how I had to leave home to come to someplace else to be free. We can’t let that happen anymore.”
“It’s not a simple choice, but it’s a choice that can mean freedom and happiness or a life of being unhappy and in the closet. It’s not a gay thing or a straight thing. It’s a human thing.”
Harvey Milk Quotes on Love
“All men are created equal. No matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.”
“I cannot prevent anyone from getting angry, or mad, or frustrated. I can only hope that they’ll turn that anger and frustration and madness into something positive.”
“Without hope, not only gays, but the blacks, the seniors, the handicapped, the us’es, the us’es will give up.”
“You have to give them hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow, hope for a better place to come to if the pressures at home are too great.”
“The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope.”
“Hope will never be silent.”
“It’s not just a matter of being tolerated, but being accepted, being loved.”
“In my lifetime, I’ve come to the conclusion that most men never get to know each other. It’s not that they don’t want to. It’s just that the doors of communication are closed.”
“And the young gay people in the Altoona, Pennsylvanias and the Richmond, Minnesotas who are coming out and hear Anita Bryant on television and her story. The only thing they have to look forward to is hope. And you have to give them hope.”
“We’ve got to have hope. The minute we lose hope, we give up. I know, because I was one of the unhopeful at times. And I lost hope, and the despair was heavy.”
“Gay people, we will not win our rights by staying silently in our closets… We are coming out to fight the lies, the myths, the distortions. We are coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I’m going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out.”
“I’m Harvey Milk, and I want to recruit you. You’ve got to give them hope.”
“If I turned around every time somebody called me a faggot, I’d be walking backward – and I don’t want to walk backward.”
“You must come out. Come out… to your relatives… come out to your friends… if indeed they are your friends. Come out to your neighbors… to your fellow workers… to the people who work where you eat and shop… come out only to the people you know, and who know you. Not to anyone else. But once and for all, break down the myths, destroy the lies and distortions.”
“We’ve got to keep hope alive. Because without it, we’ll sink.”
“You have to let them know that there is hope.”
“You’ve got to elect gay people so that thousands upon thousands like that child know that there is hope for a better world.”
“It’s not easy to be hated and harassed. It’s not easy to be the symbol of something you never intended.”
“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.”
“It’s not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power… It’s about giving those young people out there in the barrios hope.”
“I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have tasted.”
“The more gay people come out, the better it is for everybody. It’s the people who won’t come out and admit they’re gay that are part of the conspiracy.”
“The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone, but that life is not worth living without it.”
“We’re coming out to tell the truths about gays, for I am tired of the conspiracy of silence, so I’m going to talk about it. And I want you to talk about it. You must come out.”
“You’ve got to keep hope alive. Because without it, we’ll sink.”
“I have to have hope to go on. I’m a hopeful person.”
“It takes no compromise to give people their rights…it takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no political deal to give people freedom. It takes no survey to remove repression.”
“We have to make hope happen.”
“You have to give people hope. A lot of young people don’t have a lot of hope. They don’t have a lot to look forward to.”
“The only thing they have to look forward to is hope.”
Quotes By Harvey Milk
“The more you knock the system, the more you help it. I wasn’t interested in knocking the system. I was interested in getting something done.”
“It’s not just gays who should come out of the closet. Everyone should come out of the closet.”
“You gotta give ’em hope. Hope for a better world, hope for a better tomorrow.”
“If you’re not personally free to be yourself in that most important of all human activities… the expression of love… then life itself loses its meaning.”
“It takes no imagination to live within your means.”
“I am a candidate for supervisor by choice, not necessity.”
“We want to make an environment for all people, all colors, all orientations.”
“We’re not really treated fairly. We’re just thought of as only one thing and that’s why so many gays and lesbians hide.”
“I’m not a one-theme candidate, and I don’t feel that sexuality is my one theme. It is one of many themes.”
“Rights are won only by those who make their voices heard.”
“We want to make an environment where everybody is encouraged to fulfill their potential, not just some.”
“It’s not just the government that is suppressing gay activism. It’s the system.”
“You’ve got to give them hope. You’ve got to give them encouragement.”
“It’s not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power… It’s about giving those young people out there in the barrios hope.”
“Let me have my place in the sun. You have yours. I can’t do it for myself alone. You have got to help me.”
“The fact is, every time someone like me gets elected, or every time a gay person gets elected to public office, it opens up another door. We have to keep knocking, and we have to keep opening doors.”
“I have tasted freedom. I will not give up that which I have tasted.”
“If I had been a Vietnamese, I would be very, very anti-American. But I am an American, and I can’t be anti myself. I am one of the products of this country.”
“This is not my victory. It’s yours and yours and yours. If a gay can win, it means there is hope that the system can work for all minorities if we fight. We’ve given them hope.”
“It’s not about winning or losing, it’s about making a statement.”
“I can only hope that every single person out there watching or listening… can turn to whoever’s around them and go, ‘Thank you, thank you, because it will give us hope.'”
“Anita Bryant’s destructive message of hate must be countered with messages of love and compassion.”
“We are all given an incredible opportunity, an incredible opportunity in this society. It’s an opportunity to get more out of life than any other people ever had in the history of civilization.”
“It’s not about personal gain, not about ego, not about power… It’s about giving those young people out there in the barrios hope.”
“It’s not easy to be hated and harassed. It’s not easy to be the symbol of something you never intended.”
“If you help elect more gay people, that gives a green light to all who feel disenfranchised, a green light to move forward. It means hope to a nation that has given up, because if a gay person makes it, the doors are open to everyone.”
“Politics is theater. It doesn’t matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, ‘I’m here, pay attention to me.'”
“The only thing they have to look forward to is hope.”
“In the years ahead, when my time in public office has ended, I would like to be remembered as someone who had integrity, who fought for what he believed in, and who was able to move this city forward in the way that I had promised.”
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