I may not be the man I want to be; I may not be the man I ought to be; I may not be the man I could be; I may not be the man I truly can be; but praise God, I'm not the man I once was

When Negroes looked for the second phase, the realization of equality, they found that many of their white allies had quietly disappeared.... To stay murder is not the same thing as to ordain brotherhood.

Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

We all can't be famous but we can all be great and we become great when we serve others

To be Negro in America is to hope against hope.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

If we do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless nation.