I used to tell people when I preached at a church, 'If you want a great sermon, be a great audience.'

We can't exempt ourselves from the same moral calculus that we are willing to apply to others.

When Dr. King was murdered, I had no idea who he was. But as soon as I heard his words on television that night when I was 9 years old, I was dumbstruck, awestruck by their power.

I believe in a God of a second chance and a God of love and mercy, because I need so much more of it myself.

I think that not only do saints make poor role models, they are incapable in one sense of identifying radically with those of us who are mere mortals. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s mortality says to us that here's a figure who got up every day of his life facing tremendous odds and yet overcame them.

Even when you don't know, you're supposed to know.

Justice is what love sounds like when it speaks in public.