In our struggle against racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, I came to see at a very early stage that a synthesis of Gandhi's method of nonviolence and the Christian ethic of love is the best weapon available to Negroes for this struggle for freedom and human dignity. It may well be that the Gandhian approach will bring about a solution to the race problem in America. His spirit is a continual reminder to oppressed people that it is possible to resist evil and yet not resort to violence.

It's not how long a man lives, but how well he uses the time allotted him.

Freedom is one thing. You have it all or you are not free.

But we are gravely mistaken to think that Christianity protects us from the pain and agony of mortal existence. Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian, one must take up his cross, with all of its difficulties and agonizing and tragedy-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its marks upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering.

When I am commanded to love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs of my brothers.

When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind.

I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.