W. J. Bryan Quotes

You ultimately judge the civility of a society not by how it treats the rich, the powerful, the protected and the highly esteemed, but by how it treats the poor, the disfavored and the disadvantaged.

We have a system of justice in [the US] that treats you much better if you're rich and guilty than if you're poor and innocent. Wealth, not culpability, shapes outcomes.

You don’t change the world with the ideas in your mind, but with the conviction in your heart.

Somebody has to stand when other people are sitting. Somebody has to speak when other people are quiet.

Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice. It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved.

We never really grow up, we only learn how to act in public.

The opposite of poverty is not wealth. I don't believe that. I actually think, in too many places, the opposite of poverty is justice.

The true measure of our character is how we treat the poor, the disfavored, the accused, the incarcerated, and the condemned.

Each of us is more than the worst thing we've ever done.

We live in a country that talks about being the home of the brave and the land of the free, and we have the highest incarceration rate in the world.

The sea! The sea! The open sea!, The blue, the fresh, the ever free!

I don't think there's been a time in American history with more innocent people in prison.

Always do the right thing even when the right thing is the hard thing

I am not the biggest, I am not the strongest, but I am Damn sure the toughest!

We are all broken by something. We have all hurt someone and have been hurt. We all share the condition of brokenness even if our brokenness is not equivalent.

We've all been acculturated into accepting the inevitability of wrongful convictions, unfair sentences, racial bias, and racial disparities and discrimination against the poor.

Whenever society begins to create policies and laws rooted in fear and anger, there will be abuse and injustice.

Around here, no one deserves anything. You have to earn it.

We all have a responsibility to create a just society

Anglo-Saxon civilization has taught the individual to protect his own rights; American civilization will teach him to respect the rights of others.

Goat face is a horrible insult. My face is practically perfect in every way. In fact, from now on I demand to be called Beautiful Bryan.

But simply punishing the broken--walking away from them or hiding them from sight--only ensures that they remain broken and we do, too. There is no wholeness outside of our reciprocal humanity.

Our house was always full of grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins.

Anytime I sing the anthem, it is an honor and my heart beats out of my chest.

Ice cubes sell more alcohol for the distilling industry than sexy models in cheesecake poses.

You can't demand truth and reconciliation. You have to demand truth - people have to hear it, and then they have to want to reconcile themselves to that truth.

I learned long ago to focus on things you can control and don't even pay attention to things you don't.

Please forgive me, I know not what I do. Please forgive me, I can't stop loving you.

I am just what I am, I'm just what you see. So I'll make it easy, I'll stay me.

I'm not disappointed with bronze. It's always good to come away with a medal.

Thoughts of doubt and fear are pathways to failure. When you conquer negative attitudes of doubt and fear you conquer failure.

If the Bible had said that Jonah swallowed the whale, I would believe it.

Winning often teaches you about losing and losing often teaches you about winning and a lot of things also happen by luck and you have to be at the right place at the right time.

I have a lovely family who supports me and it's great.

Never be afraid to stand with the minority when the minority is right, for the minority which is right will one day be the majority.

But when you get music and words together, that can be a very powerful thing.

One of the few things a person is willing to pay for and not get.

It's that mind-heart connection that I believe compels us to not just be attentive to all the bright and dazzling things but also the dark and difficult things.

You always have to work to become a better singer, songwriter and performer.

We don't live in the world of reality, we live in the world of how we perceive reality.

In daily life, reality gives us material incentives to restrain our irrationality. But what incentive do we have to think rationally about politics?

Assumptions are unopened windows that foolish birds fly into, and their broken bodies are evidence gathered too late.

I grew up with all kinds of music, but my heart was particularly drawn to Country Music because of the guitar playing, the lyrics and of artists like Steve Warner and Vince Gill.

It wasn't going to be our day on the night.

Difficulties are opportunities to better things; they are stepping-stones to greater experience...When one door closes, another always opens; as a natural law it has to, to balance.

If you're just the person with power, exercising that power fearfully and angrily, you're going to be an operative of injustice and inequality.

With craziness, you can't predict it. There's very little defense you can have on craziness.

I feel quite sad for the young musicians coming up because they may never get to pay their rent properly. It doesn't matter what the genre; nowadays, it's so much harder than it ever was.

Search your heart, search your soul, and when you find me there you'll search no more.

All the ills from which America suffers can be traced back to the teaching of evolution. It would be better to destroy every other book ever written, and save just the first three verses of Genesis.