America is such a paradoxical society, hypocritically paradoxical, that if you don't have some humor, you'll crack up.

The Negro was taught to speak the white man's tongue, worship the white God, and accept the white man as his superior.

I do not pretend to be a divine man, but I do believe in divine guidance, divine power, and in the fulfillment of divine prophecy. I am not educated, nor am I an expert in any particular field but I am sincere, and my sincerity is my credentials.

To have once been a criminal is no disgrace. To remain a criminal is the disgrace

It's almost impossible to separate the actions, or it's also, it's almost impossible to separate the oppression and exploitation, criminal oppression and criminal exploitation of the American negro from the color of the skin of the person who is the oppressor or the exploiter.

You get your freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get it. Then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.

Do something for yourself, and then you will be recognized by the entire world as a man who has done for himself what others have done for themselves.