70+ Inspirational Marian Anderson Quotes

About Marian Anderson Singer

Marian Anderson was born on February 27, 1897, and passed away on April 8, 1993. She was an African-American contralto and one of the most renowned opera singers of the twentieth century.

At the age of nine, Anderson began singing vocal exercises to strengthen her voice. This helped to develop her vocal skills. She also had a sense of the musicality of the English sentences she studied as a child

Her voice and artistry won worldwide acclaim. At the age of 10, she joined “The White Baptist Young People’s Union” where she learned to play the organ, sing in four-part harmony, and play the melodica.

Anderson first gained recognition for her singing voice when her family took a trip to Europe as their ship happened to stop in Newcastle upon Tyne in England when she was 13.

In 1941, Anderson was denied entry to the Daughters of the American Revolution’s Constitution Hall in Washington D.C. for performance because she was African-American, sparking a national debate.

Marian Anderson was offered an opportunity to perform in front of 75,000 people at the Lincoln Memorial instead on April 9, 1939. She sang “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” and a spiritual before a live audience.

Following this performance, she was invited to sing at the Easter Sunday service at the Washington National Cathedral. This performance marked a turning point in her career as she became an international success as a singer.

Anderson received many awards and honors during her career, but she continued to be troubled by racial prejudice throughout her life. It was not until 1989 that the Daughters of the American Revolution Constitution Hall admitted Anderson for a concert in honor of her 80th birthday.

Marian Anderson Quotes

1. I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country. I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country.
2. The best thing that can happen to any of us is for us to become what we seek.
3. I am happier with my singing, because it gives me a feeling of being wanted and needed, that nothing else in the world does.
4. Music comforts and energizes me-but it’s also important as a moral force in the community.
5. I think people have more tolerance than they know how to use wisely…
6. The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.
7. The true business of the singer is not to be an artist, but to be a religious witness. The singer’s service is not to her music, but to the soul of man. She comes as a messenger from God and sings as a prayer on behalf of mankind.
8. When you are feeling down, tell your sisters you must sing or the world will close around you…
9. Singing is the highest form of prayer for me-the most beautiful prayer, the most caring.
10. It is my greatest desire to sing for God and country and humanity.
11. I do not find that I am getting more credit than I deserve from critics and public alike…
12. I would like to be remembered as a singer who tried to sing for all of the worlds.
13. I believe in God, and I believe in a cause-before you can get success, you must have a cause.
14. I want to be a singer who sings for all people-I would like to be remembered as a singer who tried to sing for all of the worlds.
15. Music is the greatest good God has given us-it was given to all the world, and it is the highest hope of our time.
16. I think people are more tolerant than they know how to use wisely…
17. I knew that I was being discriminated against, but my faith in God helped me…
18. It is possible to give music a religious significance and make it an instrument of social good…
19. Music touches every human emotion-it reaches down into the deepest place of our heart.
20. I hope that the great music will always be sung, not only because it is beautiful and soothing, but also because it changes people.
21. The greatest thing that can happen to any of us is for us to become what we seek…
22. When you are feeling down, tell your sisters you must sing or the world will close around you…
23. My desire can only be realized through singing my songs-I worry about nothing but singing my songs.
24. I had the desire to be a singer and I had the desire to sing well.
25. It is easy for us to forget our heritage…
26. To me, music is higher and finer than sex, and it should be considered as such.
27. What are we doing with our lives? What is the meaning of life? Music gives me meaning…it gives me more than food, and more than money…It elevates my mind, it even elevates my body…
28. I believe in God, and I believe in a cause-before you can get success, you must have a cause…
29. The great achievement of my life is to love and be loved, to live and make music…
30. I am singing for my people-I am singing for the right of my people to be free; I sing for freedom and justice…
31. It is impossible to live without hope that we are getting closer to our ideals and goals…
32. Our music is one of the most important ways of expressing our feelings…
33. I have learned to believe in myself and my cause…I have learned to live up to the dignity of my own race.
34. I have a great belief in the future of my people and my country…
35. We have many problems to face, but we cannot face them without the inspiration and confidence that come from music.
36. I think it is really important for us to know the things our parents taught us what they taught us in school…
37. People must be educated as to what we need…
38. I am a singer for all people…I have a right to sing it, and I have a right to do it for all people.
39. Negroes are more than singers – they are builders too…
40. I give my life to singing-I love to sing for the world.
41. When we have learned the dignity of our own race, then we will be able to teach others…
42. Our music is one of the most important ways of expressing our feelings towards life and its conditions and possibilities…
43. I have learned that when one lives a simple life, he is nearer to God; that when one lives righteously, his life becomes more meaningful…that righteousness leads me closer and closer to God…
44. I have learned that when one lives a simple life, he is nearer to God; that when one lives righteously, his life becomes more meaningful…that righteousness leads me closer and closer to God…
45. I have learned that if we make music, we can lead our people out of Africa…I have learned that if we make the songs we sing, then our people will be inspired and they will be able to stand for their freedom…
46. If you sing and teach the children, you’re making them better than you were before…
47. If we all work together, we can accomplish anything…
48. If you want to make a difference in the world, then demand that your people have a chance to say for themselves what they want…
49. I believe that people are on their way toward better living conditions; I think our people are moving towards an understanding and acceptance of the facts of life as they really are…
50. I have learned that it was through my love of music, that I have been able to make a contribution to the world…
51. My great ambition is to be a part of the freedom process of my people in this country…
52. We are not on our way toward equality, we are on our way toward freedom and justice…
53. That which is not worth doing at all may be worth doing for a purpose…
54. I have learned how to fight…I have learned that freedom is not free.
55. I believe that my work has some meaning in this world…
56. I have learned that if one is going to be blessed in this life, he must give of himself unstintingly for his fellow man; he must elevate himself by lifting others up…
57. The most important thing I have learned is not the words of any songs…they are but the words of my heart…
58. I have learned that a person is a person through himself and not through his family…
59. I have learned that if my people had been taught to develop their talents, the United States would never have needed our help…
60. I believe that if my people had been taught to develop their talents, the United States would never have needed our help…
61. I believe that the colored people must develop their own leaders…
62. I have learned that there is a great need for more trained workers in my field…
63. I have learned that music is an expression of life’s experiences…
64. I have learned that the transformation of our society will be affected by those of us who continue to struggle against poverty and injustice and work diligently for freedom and justice in our land…
65. I have discovered that, if you are going to make any progress, you must get involved yourself…
66. I have learned that if one is going to be blessed in this life, he must give of himself unstintingly for his fellow man; he must elevate himself by lifting others up…
67. I believe that what we need is more voices raised in protest…
68. I have learned that my people must join together as one and not allow themselves to be divided or disrupted…
69. I have learned that the old methods which were employed so successfully for years by the political establishment no longer work…
70. I have discovered that in the battle for freedom, the forces of law and order are always on the side of my enemy…
71. I have learned that there is a close relationship between legalized injustice and non-violent protest…
72. I have discovered that no institution will reform itself…
73. I believe that if we are to bring about meaningful change in this society, we must work outside of the established structures of “business-as-usual” politics…”