With everything going on in our country right now, though these things are more prevalent and not new, I think we need to rely on some of the wisdom of some great people (some American, some not) who came before us (or still live among us). Many of these people walked the streets during the Civil Rights movement, sat in the Oval Office as President, or are otherwise notable figures. Their words, to me, ring even more true today than when they were first spoken. Let’s take a step back and learn from our past, so we don’t ever have to repeat it — though sometimes it appears we are when we look at our television screens. It’s never too late to learn and it’s never too late to do the right thing.

1."I love America more than any other country in the world, and exactly for this reason, I insist on the right to criticize her perpetually." - James Baldwin

2. "You can always count on Americans to do the right thing -- after they’ve tried everything else." - Winston Churchill

3. "I have become an American citizen, and I love this country. I think that this country has incredible potential of goodness, an incredible possibility for doing the wrong thing, too." - Isabel Allende

4. "The cost of freedom is always high, but Americans have always paid it. And one path we shall never choose, and this is the path of surrender or submission." - John F. Kennedy

5. "I had no idea history was being made, I was just tired of giving up." - Rosa Parks

6."What the people want is very simple. They want an America as good as its promise." - Barbara Jordan

7. "Throughout the centuries there were men who took first steps down new roads armed with nothing but their own vision." - Ayn Rand

8. "I have decided to stick with love, hate is too great a burden to bear." - Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

9. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice anywhere." - Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

10. "The ultimate tragedy is not the brutality of the bad people, but the silence of the good people." - Rev.Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

11. "Tears will get you sympathy, sweat will get you change." - Rev Jesse Jackson.

12. "Fear of something is at the root of hate for others, and hate within will eventually destroy the hater." - Dr. George Washing Carver

13. "Change doesn’t come from Washington, change comes to Washington." - President Barack Obama

14. "If your actions inspire others to dream more, learn more, do more and become more, you are a leader." -John Quincy Adams

15. "We will shape and mold this country or it will not be molded and shaped at all anymore." - Nina Simone

The changes taking place right now in this country will forever affect the next generations, either for the good or bad. As a nation we get to choose.

Choose well.