I've pretty much always used my positions as a bully pulpit. What that means is strongly advocating for the things I feel are really important. Gun violence, to me, is the highest-priority public-health issue, and I have to make sure… — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
Once I had a professor say to me, "You know you have as much education as a lot of white people." I answered, "Doctor,… — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
[On masturbation:] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught. — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
I think we should have a very, very heavy tax on handguns and on bullets. — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
“We have a multiheaded dragon in our midst that for too long has been waging a domestic war on our young, our poor, our… — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
... black women have always found that in the social order of things we're the least likely to be believed--by anyone. — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
[We must] deal with all of the contributing factors to gun violence as a whole, because it's like a leaky bucket - if you've… — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
You can't educate people that are not healthy. But you certainly can't keep them healthy if they're not educated. — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
As long as I was in Washington I never met anybody that I thought was good enough, who knew enough, or who loved enough… — Joycelyn Elders Copy Share Image
![“[On masturbation:] I think that it is part of human sexuality, and perhaps it should be taught.” quote by Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/403/joycelyn-elders-12167_humans_on-masturbation-i-think-that-it-is-part_391361.jpg)
![“[We must] deal with all of the contributing factors to gun violence as a whole, because it's like a leaky bucket - if you've got a bucket with six holes shot through it, [and] you plug up five, you've still got a leaky bucket.” quote by Joycelyn Elders](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/img-quotes/1ab/joycelyn-elders-12167_buckets_we-must-deal-with-all-of-the-contributin_649625.jpg)
