Cesar Chavez Day in 2025

Some quotes from Cesar Chavez

"Preservation of one’s own culture does not require contempt or disrespect for other cultures.”

“From the depth of need despair, people can work together, can organize themselves to solve their own problems and fill their own needs with dignity and strength.”

“We draw our strength from the very despair in which we have been forced to live. We shall endure.”

“We need to help students and parents cherish and preserve the ethnic and cultural diversity that nourishes and strengthens this community – and this nation.”

“There’s no turning back…We will win. We are winning because ours is a revolution of mind and heart.”

“Being of service is not enough. You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return.”

“Self-dedication is a spiritual experience.”

“The end of all knowledge must be the building up of character.”

“We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community.”

“The fight is never about grapes or lettuce. It is always about people.”

"If you really want to make a friend, go to someone’s house and eat with him… the people who give you their food give you their heart."

"When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are."

"To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!"

"The burdens of generations of poverty and powerlessness lie heavy in the fields of America. If we fail, there are those who will see violence as the shortcut to change."

"It is possible to become discouraged about the injustice we see everywhere. But God did not promise us that the world would be humane and just. He gives us the gift of life and allows us to choose the way we will use our limited time on earth. It is an awesome opportunity."