The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away.

The negro cannot win the respect of the white people of the south or the peoples of the world if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety.

Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.

We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.

There is something in this universe that justifies the biblical writer in saying, "You shall reap what you sow." This is a law-abiding universe. This is a moral universe. It hinges on moral foundations. If we are to make of this a better world, we've got to go back and rediscover that precious value that we've left behind.

To have serpentlike qualities devoid of dovelike qualities is to be passionless, mean, and selfish.

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all.