“I’d rather go down in history as one lone Negro who dared to tell the government that it had done a dastardly thing than to save my skin by taking back what I said.”

Why is it so great? I found this quote from the absolutely amazing Ida B. Wells after The New York Times righted an old wrong by publishing her obit -- almost exactly 87 years after her death. She was so fearless, and fierce. She took on those in power and fought to end the impunity of lynching, and also for the right of universal suffrage. I could have chosen any of a dozen Great Sentences here, including:

"The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them."

"One had better die fighting against injustice than die like a dog or a rat in a trap."

"Those who commit the murders write the reports."

And, possibly my favorite:

"The people must know before they can act, and there is no educator to compare with the press."