We did not hesitate to call our movement an army. But it was a special army, with no supplies but its sincerity, no uniform but its determination, no arsenal except its faith, no currency but its conscience.

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.

Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change.

Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force is the most potent instrument available in mankind's quest for peace and security.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, sons of former slaves and sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. I have a dream that one day, even the state of Mississippi, a state sweltering with the heat of injustice, sweltering with the heat of oppression, will be transformed into a oasis of freedom and justice. I have a dream my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by content of their character. I have a dream today!

If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.