Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the civil rights movement would not have been as successful as it has been.

I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism.

I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.

In the current struggle, there is one positive course of action. There is no alternative, for the alternative would connote a rear march.

I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love. I am disappointed with our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. We are presently moving down a dead-end road that can lead to national disaster. America has strayed to the far country of racism and militarism.

I would rather be a man of conviction than a man of conformity

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