If the time is not ripe, we have to ripen the time.

We are not a problem people, we are people with problems.

Progress comes from caring more about what needs to be done than about who gets the credit

Civil rights are civil rights. There are no persons who are not entitled to their civil rights... We have to recognize that we have a long way to go, but we have to go that way together.

Without community service, we would not have a strong quality of life. It's important to the person who serves as well as the recipient. It's the way in which we ourselves grow and develop.

I am the product of many whose lives have touched mine, from the famous, distinguished, and powerful to the little known and the poor.

Greatness is not measured by what a man or woman accomplishes, but by the opposition he or she has overcome to reach his goals.