Quotes from Harvey Milk

How can people change their minds about us if they don't know who we are?

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!

It takes no compromising to give people their rights. It takes no money to respect the individual. It takes no survey to remove repressions.

Politics is theater. It doesn't matter if you win. You make a statement. You say, "I'm here, pay attention to me

If I do a good job, people won't care if I am green or have three heads.

Hope is never silent.

The important thing is not that we can live on hope alone but that life is not worth living without it.

A reading of the Declaration of Independence on the steps of a building is widely covered. The events that started the American Revolution were the meetings in homes, pubs, on street corners.

I know that you cannot live on hope alone, but without it, life is not worth living. And you...And you...And you...Gotta give em hope.

Once you have dialogue starting, you know you can break down prejudice.

The first gay people we elect must be strong. They must not be content to sit in the back of the bus. They must not be content to accept pablum. They must be above wheeling and dealing.

If a bullet should enter my brain, let that bullet destroy every closet door.

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.

Give me your support, and I'll fight for you... I'll fight for you because I am you.

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.

My name is Harvey Milk and I'm here to recruit you.

If every gay person were to come out only to his/her own family, friends, neighbors and fellow workers, within days the entire state would discover that we are not the stereotypes generally assumed.

A gay person in office can set a tone, can command respect not only from the larger community but from the young people in our own community who need both examples and hope.

Hope will never be silent.

If I turned around every time somebody called me a faggot, I'd be walking backward - and I don't want to walk backward.

All men are created equal. Now matter how hard they try, they can never erase those words. That is what America is about.

I'm a small businessman and I'm well aware of the uncertainties of the economy, exactly what the 'inflationary spiral' means when I'm forced to raise prices to my customers, and how taxes can eat into your earnings.

I stand for all those who feel that the government no longer understands the individual and no longer respects individual rights.