Studs Terkel Quotes

We are intent on building a movement. The next step is grassroots town meetings. We must keep alive the dialogue around the covenants.

I decided to become a community organizer ... Change won't come from the top, I would say. Change will come from a mobilized grass roots.

I love being a part of something that is grassroots, and you can see the actual changes, the effect of what people do.

There are many ways of encouraging people to make life better other than joining a political party. Politics with a small 'p' isn't just about darkened committee rooms, endless meetings - it is about giving people the right to make decisions about our lives.

It's the people who are doing the nonviolent organizing at the grassroots that make me think there's still hope.

I'm very cautious and very concerned about what I have initially seen, but I also believe we've got to organize like we have never organized before.We talk about it, but realistically, we've got to organize at the grassroots level.

What a grassroots party is about is people getting excited, getting involved in the local political process, saying, we want our candidate to run for office, we want him to run for office, and we're going to get involved and make sure that he or she wins.

What we have ignored is what citizens can do and the importance of real involvement of the people versus just having somebody in Washington make a rule.

I'm not a grassroots organizer; that is clear. I believe in a division of labor. I'm not trained to organize the grassroots, and grassroots has to come from the grassroots.

I know that government doesn't have the all solutions that real solutions do not come from the top down. Instead, the ways to end poverty come from all of us. We are part of the solution.

If the world is to be put together it will not be done by large organizations. It will be done by millions of small organizations…. Participation: That’s what is going to save the human race.

Your job is to inspire people from your neighborhood to get out.

I really believe you've gotta put the power in the people. They're the ones who are gonna make the experience.

I think that if the political and social movement groups and organizations that operate in this country today had the same kind of energetic commitment that the medical marijuana people have, many things could change in this country.

Being politically active is "more about doing things, not just standing for some platform or being involved in some political party."

I hope people become inspired to become active in their community. That's the important thing.

A social group can, indeed must, already exercise 'leadership' before winning governmental power (this is indeed one of the principal conditions for the winning of such power); it subsequently becomes dominant when it exercises power, but even if it holds it firmly in its grasp, it must continue to 'lead' as well.

I was elected because I believed in what we call "grassroots politics," politics from the bottom up, not the top down.

We need to reshape the movement as one of grassroots activists, and not 'professional activists' who populate the seemingly endless number of national animal rights groups. For many people, activism has become writing a check to a national group that is very pleased to have you leave it to them. Although it is important to give financial support to worthy efforts only, giving money is not enough and giving to the wrong groups can actually do more harm than good.

It is important not only to have the awareness and to feel impelled to become involved, it's important that there be a forum out there to which one can relate, an organization- a movement.

I had this epiphany that I like the interaction with people. I wanted to make things happen at a grassroots level.

It's important to be active in the causes that are important to you... That's how we make changes in this world.

The possibility of my presidential candidacy emerged spontaneously in public opinion polls. For my part, I noticed people's affection when I was doing work on the ground. I think the important thing is that my candidacy was born from citizens themselves, driven by the people and which the parties picked up favorably.

There's nothing quite as powerful as people feeling they can have impact and make a difference. When you've got that going for you, I think it's a very powerful way to implement change.

Political development should start at the grassroots.