Segregation...not only harms one physically but injures one spiritually...It scars the soul...It is a system which forever stares the segregated in the face, saying 'You are less than...''You are not equal to...'

The purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.

One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.

Power is the ability to achieve purpose.

Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.

The great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct.

Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.