I deplored a system that made it more profitable not to work than to work. I wanted to help change all that.

America is the only country in the world that classifies as Negro any person who has one drop of African blood in his or her veins.

To stand still is to regress.

The member of Congress who forgets his constituents' needs usually serves only one term.

When people treat corruption as a routine part of the process, you have something far worse than wrongdoing or moral failing. You have a political cancer that breeds cynicism about democratic government and infects all of society.

My parents taught me that racial prejudice is a sin, one that robs the world of great minds and talents.

My entire life has been devoted to breaking down barriers, to finding common ground.