What you get with violence can be maintained only with violence

It's not burn baby burn, but learn, baby, learn, so that you can earn, baby, earn.

In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles o popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

For years now I have heard the word "wait." It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never."

I would suffer all the humiliation, all the torture, the absolute ostracism and even death, to prevent violence