Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Quotes

Things come suitable to the time.

Morality may consist solely in the courage of making a choice.

Political courage requires clarity.

I would rather lose in a cause that will some day win, than win in a cause that will some day lose.

There is not only a right thing to do. There is a right time to do it.

Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But Conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.

Remember, if the time should come when you have to make a choice between what is right and what is easy, remember what happened to a boy who was good, and kind, and brave, because he strayed across the path of Lord Voldemort. Remember Cedric Diggory.

Nothing can do men of good will more harm than apparent compromises with parties that subscribe to antimoral and antidemocratic and anti-God forces. We must have the courage to detach our support from men who are doing evil. We must bear them no hatred, but we must break with them.

Sometimes being a leader isn’t about winning. Sometimes it’s about doing what’s right, instead of what’s powerful.

Arms is a profession that, if its principles are adhered to for success, requires an officer do what he fears may be wrong, and yet, according to military experience, must be done, if success is to be attained.

I just don't think [Payne] was the right time to do it, maybe. It was timing, not so much that it was executed wrong.

It is never too late or too soon. It is when it is supposed to be.

I always question whether it's the right time for anything I do.

There is a fulness of time when men should go, and not occupy too long the ground to which others have a right to advance.

One finds oneself saying: 'I know the right question, but ... this is not exactly the right time to ask it.'

All of us experience fear, but when we confront and acknowledge it, we are able to turn it into courage. Being courageous does not mean never being scared; it means acting as you know you must even though you are undeniably afraid.

Doing what is right in the face of adversity is not always easy or popular. Critics may assail you, but the critics don't always realize what they don't know or don't understand, because they don't have access to all the information.

The great Norwegian playwright, Henrik Ibsen, wrote, "One of these days, the younger generation will come knocking at my door." The future is knocking at our door right now. Make no mistake, the next generation will ask us one of two questions. Either they will ask: "What were you thinking; why didn't you act?" Or they will ask instead: "How did you find the moral courage to rise and successfully resolve a crisis that so many said was impossible to solve?

Cease being intimidated by the argument that a right action is impossible because it does not yield maximum profits, or that a wrong action is to be condoned because it pays.

Whatever the outcome may be, the important thing is to step forward on the path that you believe is right.

We learn courageous action by going forward whenever fear urges us back.

It’s always about timing. If it’s too soon, no one understands. If it’s too late, everyone’s forgotten.

Once you've taken a public stand you know is right, never back down; anything less than a rock-hard stance will let your enemies nibble you to death.

Is is always time to do the right thing.

He who performs his duty in a station of great power must needs incur the utter enmity of many, and the high displeasure of more.