Working with children is the easiest part of educating for democracy, because children are still undefeated and have no stake in being prejudiced.

democracy produces both heroes and villains, but it differs from a fascist state in that it does not produce a hero who is a villain.

it is a waste of time to ask more of people than they have to give.

Some persons talk simply because they think sound is more manageable than silence.

Reality is above all else a variable, and nobody is qualified to say that he or she knows exactly what it is. As a matter of fact, with a firm enough commitment, you can sometimes create a reality which did not exist before.

If you embark on a project as magnificent in concept as the brotherhood of man, it is foolish not to anticipate difficulties of proportionate magnificence.

The people who are unprejudiced, but who ... feel it is so hopeless there is no use trying ... probably do just as much damage to the emotional atmosphere in which we are facing the problem as the fanatical Negrophobes.