I don't think of myself as a Negro. I'm a Southerner. I just like the Southern way of life.

Any time someone carries a picket sign in front of the White House, that is the First Amendment in action

The humanity of all Americans is diminished when any group is denied rights granted to others.

The war in Iraq has as much to do with terrorism as the administration has to do with compassion.

I do think that some of us began to realize that this was going to be a long struggle that was going to go on for decades, and you'd have to knuckle down. A lot of people in our generation did that. They didn't drop out and run away

Good things don't come to those who wait. They come to those who agitate!

Griffin Bell later apologized to me for that decision.