We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people.

The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.

Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.

If you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl, but keep moving forward!

I have a dream that 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 the content of their character.