Nonviolence is really tough. You don't practice nonviolence at conferences; you practice it on picket-lines.

Students must have initiative; they should not be mere imitators. They must learn to think and act for themselves - and be free.

It is not good enough to know why we are oppressed and by whom. We must join the struggle for what is right and just. Jesus does not promise that it will be an easy way to live life and His own life certainly points in a hard direction; but it does promise that we will be "satisfied" (not stuffed; but satisfied). He promises that by giving life we will find life - full, meaningful life as God meant it.

I'm not going to ask for anything unless the workers want it. If they want it, they'll ask for it.

When any person suffers for someone in greater need, that person is a human.

When we are really honest with ourselves we must admit our lives are all that really belong to us. So it is how we use our lives that determines the kind of men we are.

Imagine the National Guard being called against a group of peaceful people. How far can we get; how disgraceful can it become? It's the most disgraceful, the most wicked thing I've seen in all my years of organizing farm labor.