I am convinced that the truest act of courage, the strongest act of manliness, is to sacrifice ourselves for others in a totally nonviolent struggle for justice. To be a man is to suffer for others. God help us to be men!

True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire.

We cannot seek achievement for ourselves and forget about progress and prosperity for our community... Our ambitions must be broad enough to include the aspirations and needs of others, for their sakes and for our own.

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

Our struggle is not easy. Those who oppose our cause are rich and powerful and they have many allies in high places. We are poor. Our allies are few. But we have something the rich do not own. We have our bodies and spirits and the justice of our cause as our weapons.

To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is a great capacity to dream; the second is persistence.

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