--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: [T]he vote is the most powerful…" description: "\"“[T]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men becaus..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/lyndon-b-johnson-684_injustice_t-he-vote-is-the-most-powerful-instrumen_1869599.png" --- # \[T\]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by… ![“[T]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.” quote by Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/lyndon-b-johnson-684_injustice_t-he-vote-is-the-most-powerful-instrumen_1869599.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/lyndon-b-johnson-684_injustice_t-he-vote-is-the-most-powerful-instrumen_1869599.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/584/lyndon-b-johnson-684_injustice_t-he-vote-is-the-most-powerful-instrumen_1869599.png) > ““\[T\]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”” [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Voting empowers people to dismantle injustice and break down barriers of difference. **In simple terms:** Voting can end injustice and divide. Key Takeaway Vote to fight inequality. Themes politics justice citizenship Mood hopeful determined Type inspirational political When to use this quote - elections - activism - community organizing Key Concepts democracy rights Questions to Reflect On - What barriers still exist? - How can voting be more effective? A Different Perspective Voting alone may not change systemic oppression. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Imprison Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/imprison-men-2571124/) [Injustice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) [Injustice Destroying](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice-destroying-2571125/) [Justice](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/justice/) [Lbj](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/lbj/) [Men](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/men/) [Powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/powerful/) [Terrible](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/terrible/) [Vote](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vote/) [Vote Powerful](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/vote-powerful-446324/) [Voting](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/voting/) ## Related quotes > [I'll have those niggers voting Democratic for the next 200 years. \[Touting his underlying intentions for the "Great Society" programs, LBJ confided with two…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-ll-have-those-niggers-voting-democratic-for-the-next-200-years/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [We did not choose to be the guardians of the gate, but there is no one else.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/we-did-not-choose-to-be-the-guardians-of-the-gate-but-there-is-no-one/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [We need to be asking for the vote in the most powerful way possible, which is to have people asking for the vote who…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-rove/we-need-to-be-asking-for-the-vote-in-the-most-powerful-way-possible/) [Karl Rove](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-rove/) > [All we have is our vote. But it's powerful.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adam-mckay/all-we-have-is-our-vote-but-it-s-powerful/) [Adam McKay](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adam-mckay/) > [The vote is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-lewis/the-vote-is-the-most-powerful-nonviolent-tool-we-have/) [John Lewis](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-lewis/) > [It might interest you that just as the U.S. was ramping up its involvement in Vietnam, LBJ launched an illegal invasion of the Dominican…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/junot-diaz/it-might-interest-you-that-just-as-the-u-s-was-ramping-up-its/) [Junot Diaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/junot-diaz/) > [“President Kennedy’s eloquence was designed to make men think; President Johnson’s hammer blows are designed to make men act.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-caro/president-kennedy-s-eloquence-was-designed-to-make-men-think/) [Robert A. Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-caro/) > [The ‘Great Society’ has not worked and it’s put us into the modern welfare state. If you look at China, they don’t have food…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/michele-bachmann/the-great-society-has-not-worked-and-it-s-put-us-into-the-modern/) [Michele Bachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/michele-bachmann/) > [Between 1965 (the beginning of LBJ's "Great Society") and 1994, welfare spending has cost the taxpayers $5.4 trillion in constant 1993 dollars. The War…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/rush-limbaugh/between-1965-the-beginning-of-lbj-s-great-society-and-1994-welfare/) [Rush Limbaugh](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/rush-limbaugh/) > [LBJ held up Detroit as a model of what the Great Society could accomplish. He was right.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-steyn/lbj-held-up-detroit-as-a-model-of-what-the-great-society-could/) [Mark Steyn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-steyn/) > [“He was to become the lawmaker for the poor and the downtrodden and the oppressed. He was to be the bearer of at least…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-caro/he-was-to-become-the-lawmaker-for-the-poor-and-the-downtrodden-and/) [Robert A. Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-caro/) > [“Ask not what you have done for Lyndon Johnson, but what you have done for him lately.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-caro/ask-not-what-you-have-done-for-lyndon-johnson-but-what-you-have-done/) [Robert A. Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-caro/) > [ FDR, JFK, LBJ \[all Democratic presidents \] we have a pretty long list of presidents who maybe were not entirely forthcoming with intelligence information… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/fdr-jfk-lbj-all-democratic-presidents-we-have-a-pretty-long-list-of/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [ The presidents varied in the degree to which they cited the founders. Some, like JFK, LBJ, \[Richard\] Nixon, and \[Bill\] Clinton, cited them somewhat… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-kengor/the-presidents-varied-in-the-degree-to-which-they-cited-the-founders/) [Paul Kengor](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-kengor/) > [“It is not clear who will bring to the Whitehouse those useful commodities of vivid language, a sense of history and most important -…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-a-caro/it-is-not-clear-who-will-bring-to-the-whitehouse-those-useful/) [Robert A. Caro](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-a-caro/) ## More by Lyndon B. Johnson > [There is something more important than any ultimate weapon. That is the ultimate position-the position of total control over Earth that lies somewhere out…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-is-something-more-important-than-any-ultimate-weapon-that-is/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Each year more than 100,000 high school graduates, with proved ability, do not enter college because they cannot afford it. And if we cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/each-year-more-than-100-000-high-school-graduates-with-proved-ability/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Knowledge is of two kinds: we know a subject itself, or know where to find it.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/knowledge-is-of-two-kinds-we-know-a-subject-itself-or-know-where-to/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [We come to reason, not to dominate. We do not seek to have our way, but to find a common way.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/we-come-to-reason-not-to-dominate-we-do-not-seek-to-have-our-way-but/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I have learned that only two things are necessary to keep one's wife happy. First, let her think she's having her own way. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-have-learned-that-only-two-things-are-necessary-to-keep-one-s-wife/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [For me, it is a deep personal tragedy. I know that the world shares the sorrow that Mrs. Kennedy and her family bear. I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/for-me-it-is-a-deep-personal-tragedy-i-know-that-the-world-shares-the/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Today, 8 million adult Americans, more than the entire population of Michigan, have not finished 5 years of school. Nearly 20 million have not…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/today-8-million-adult-americans-more-than-the-entire-population-of/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Republicans simply don't know how to manage the economy.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/republicans-simply-don-t-know-how-to-manage-the-economy/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I don't believe I'll ever get credit for anything I do in foreign affairs, no matter how successful it is, because I didn't go…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-don-t-believe-i-ll-ever-get-credit-for-anything-i-do-in-foreign/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [There are no favorites in my office. I treat them all with the same general inconsideration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/there-are-no-favorites-in-my-office-i-treat-them-all-with-the-same/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I'm the only president you've got.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-m-the-only-president-you-ve-got/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [I am afraid, ... that health begins, after seventy, and often long before, to have a meaning different from that which it had at…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/i-am-afraid-that-health-begins-after-seventy-and-often-long-before-to/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [The family is the corner stone of our society.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/the-family-is-the-corner-stone-of-our-society/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Never make a speech at a country dance or a football game.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/never-make-a-speech-at-a-country-dance-or-a-football-game/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [Our society is illuminated by the spiritual insights of the Hebrew prophets. America and Israel have a common love of human freedom and they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/our-society-is-illuminated-by-the-spiritual-insights-of-the-hebrew/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) [Explore all 411 Lyndon B. Johnson quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) ## More Injustice quotes > [“Don't let cycles of violent crimes, uncontrollable, rising cases of bloody impunity, evil puppets in a crippled judiciary, marionettes in a corrupted legislative system…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/angelica-hopes/don-t-let-cycles-of-violent-crimes-uncontrollable-rising-cases-of/) [Angelica Hopes](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/angelica-hopes/) > [There is no perfect justice, just as there is no absolute in ethics. But there is perfect injustice, and we know it when we…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alan-dershowitz/there-is-no-perfect-justice-just-as-there-is-no-absolute-in-ethics/) [Alan Dershowitz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alan-dershowitz/) > [Progress is the injustice each generation commits with regard to its predecessors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/emile-m-cioran/progress-is-the-injustice-each-generation-commits-with-regard-to-its/) [Emile M. Cioran](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/emile-m-cioran/) > [And I've never taken up a sport just because it was a social fad.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dinah-shore/and-i-ve-never-taken-up-a-sport-just-because-it-was-a-social-fad/) [Dinah Shore](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dinah-shore/) > [Nothing better protects a human being against the stupidity of prejudice, racism, religious or political sectarianism, and exclusivist nationalism than this truth that invariably…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mario-vargas-llosa/nothing-better-protects-a-human-being-against-the-stupidity-of/) [Mario Vargas Llosa](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mario-vargas-llosa/) > [Life appears to me too short to be spent in nursing animosity, or registering wrongs. With this creed, revenge never worries my heart, degradation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charlotte-bronte/life-appears-to-me-too-short-to-be-spent-in-nursing-animosity-or/) [Charlotte Bronte](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charlotte-bronte/) > [“Rather than being incensed by the nature of the bruise, maybe we should be inspired by the possibilities in the bruise.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/craig-d-lounsbrough/rather-than-being-incensed-by-the-nature-of-the-bruise-maybe-we/) [Craig D. Lounsbrough](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/craig-d-lounsbrough/) > [When we struggle for human rights, for freedom, for dignity, when we feel that it is a ministry of the church to concern itself…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/when-we-struggle-for-human-rights-for-freedom-for-dignity-when-we/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [I cannot accept being silent in the face of injustice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jasmine-crockett/i-cannot-accept-being-silent-in-the-face-of-injustice/) [Jasmine Crockett](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jasmine-crockett/) > [A perpetually new and lively world, but a dangerous one, full of tragedy and injustice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joyce-cary/a-perpetually-new-and-lively-world-but-a-dangerous-one-full-of/) [Joyce Cary](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joyce-cary/) > [I actually recommend as little actual counting as possible in a life partnership. But, when there's a sense of injustice brewing between you, some…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carolyn-hax/i-actually-recommend-as-little-actual-counting-as-possible-in-a-life/) [Carolyn Hax](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carolyn-hax/) > [I realize more and more how instinctively pessimistic I am of all human kindness -- since I am always so bowled over by it…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dawn-powell/i-realize-more-and-more-how-instinctively-pessimistic-i-am-of-all/) [Dawn Powell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dawn-powell/) > [Of all evils of war the greatest is the purely spiritual evil: the hatred, the injustice, the repudiation of truth, the artificial conflict.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/bertrand-russell/of-all-evils-of-war-the-greatest-is-the-purely-spiritual-evil-the/) [Bertrand Russell](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/bertrand-russell/) > [Unless a man gives himself entirely to the Cross, in a spirit of humility and self-abasement; unless he casts himself down to be trampled…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-the-evangelist/unless-a-man-gives-himself-entirely-to-the-cross-in-a-spirit-of/) [Mark the Evangelist](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-the-evangelist/) > [In my book I specifically discussed the structural nature of injustice and offered Nine Touchstones of Goddess ethics as an alternative to the Ten…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/carol-p-christ/in-my-book-i-specifically-discussed-the-structural-nature-of/) [Carol P. Christ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/carol-p-christ/) [Browse all 2,138 Injustice quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/injustice/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“[T]he vote is the most powerful instrument ever devised by man for breaking down injustice and destroying the terrible walls which imprison men because they are different from other men.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Lyndon B. 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