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25 Noteworthy Quotes By Eldridge Cleaver

Famous As: American Writer and Political Activist who Became an Early Leader of the Black Panther Party
Born On: August 31, 1935
Died On: May 1, 1998
Born In: Wabbaseka, Arkansas
Died At Age: 62
Eldridge Cleaver was a notorious American political activist and author, who spearheaded the Black Panther Party. After being declared as a fugitive by the United States criminal justice in Cuba and Algeria, Cleaver spent most of his life in exile. But it did not reduce his stranglehold in the party. Eventually, feuds and disputes with rival leaders, Newton and Seale, led to the weakening of the Black Panther Party. Cleaver is renowned for his work ‘Soul on Ice’ where he describes his transformation from a goon, accused of rapes and dealing marijuana, to a Marxist revolutionary abiding by the ideologies of Malcolm X. ‘Soul on Ice’ can be divided into four sections namely Letters from Prison, Blood of the Beast, Prelude to Love – Three Letters and White Woman, Black Man. These writings clearly highlight his thoughts and sayings on issues pertaining to racism, rape, conviction, gender relation, sexuality and black masculinity. Let us go through some of the quotes from this notorious leader.
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If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.

If you are not a part of the solution, you are a part of the problem.

Eldridge Cleaver
Too much agreement kills a chat.

Too much agreement kills a chat.

Eldridge Cleaver
The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.

The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.

Eldridge Cleaver
You're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem.

You're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem.

Eldridge Cleaver
I feel that I am a citizen of the American dream and that the revolutionary struggle of which I am a part is a struggle against the American nightmare.

I feel that I am a citizen of the American dream and that the revolutionary struggle of which I am a part is a struggle against the American nightmare.

Eldridge Cleaver
In prison, those things withheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all.

In prison, those things withheld from and denied to the prisoner become precisely what he wants most of all.

Eldridge Cleaver

There is no calamity which a great nation can invite which equals that which follows a supine submission to wrong and injustice and the consequent loss of national self-respect and honor, beneath which are shielded and defended a people's safety and greatness.

Eldridge Cleaver
What America demands in her black champions is a brilliant, powerful body and a dull, bestial mind.

What America demands in her black champions is a brilliant, powerful body and a dull, bestial mind.

Eldridge Cleaver
Respect commands itself and can neither be given nor withheld when it is due.

Respect commands itself and can neither be given nor withheld when it is due.

Eldridge Cleaver

The Twist was a guided missile launched from the ghetto into the heart of suburbia. The Twist succeeded, as politics, religion and law could never do, in writing in the heart and soul what the Supreme Court could only write on the books.

Eldridge Cleaver
You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem.

You either have to be part of the solution, or you're going to be part of the problem.

Eldridge Cleaver
All the gods are dead except the god of war.

All the gods are dead except the god of war.

Eldridge Cleaver
We shall have our manhood. We shall have it or the earth will be leveled by our attempts to gain it.

We shall have our manhood. We shall have it or the earth will be leveled by our attempts to gain it.

Eldridge Cleaver
Respect commands itself and it can neither be given nor withheld when it is due.

Respect commands itself and it can neither be given nor withheld when it is due.

Eldridge Cleaver
If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America.

If a man like Malcolm X could change and repudiate racism, if I myself and other former Muslims can change, if young whites can change, then there is hope for America.

Eldridge Cleaver
You don't have to teach people how to be human. You have to teach them how to stop being inhuman.

You don't have to teach people how to be human. You have to teach them how to stop being inhuman.

Eldridge Cleaver
I have taken an oath in my heart to oppose communism until the day I die.

I have taken an oath in my heart to oppose communism until the day I die.

Eldridge Cleaver
What we're saying today is that you're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem.

What we're saying today is that you're either part of the solution or you're part of the problem.

Eldridge Cleaver
But it is not that easy, is it? I seek a lasting relationship, something permanent in a world of change, in which all is transitory, ephemeral, and full of pain.

But it is not that easy, is it? I seek a lasting relationship, something permanent in a world of change, in which all is transitory, ephemeral, and full of pain.

Eldridge Cleaver
I may even swagger a little, and, as I read in a book somewhere, 'push myself forward like a train.

I may even swagger a little, and, as I read in a book somewhere, 'push myself forward like a train.

Eldridge Cleaver
You are either part of the solution or part of the problem.

You are either part of the solution or part of the problem. " Eldridge Cleaver

Eldridge Cleaver
History could pass for a scarlet text, its jot and title graven red in human blood.

History could pass for a scarlet text, its jot and title graven red in human blood.

Eldridge Cleaver
Everybody changes, not just me.

Everybody changes, not just me.

Eldridge Cleaver
I've gone beyond civil rights and human rights to creation rights.

I've gone beyond civil rights and human rights to creation rights.

Eldridge Cleaver
I did not know that I had all these feelings inside me. They have never been aroused before. Now they cascade down upon my head and threaten to beat me down to the ground, into the dust.

I did not know that I had all these feelings inside me. They have never been aroused before. Now they cascade down upon my head and threaten to beat me down to the ground, into the dust.

Eldridge Cleaver