"The ultimate measure of a man is not where
he stands in moments of comfort and convenience,
but where he stands at times of challenge
and controversy."
"We know through painful experience that freedom
is never voluntarily given by the oppressor,
it must be demanded by the oppressed."
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only
light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can
do that.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice
everywhere."
"People fail to get along because they fear
each other; they fear each other because they
don't know each other; they don't know each
other because they have not communicated with
each other."
"I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional
love will have the final word in reality.
This is why right, temporarily defeated, is
stronger than evil triumphant.”
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension;
it is the presence of justice."
“We must develop and maintain the capacity
to forgive.
He who is devoid of the power to forgive is
devoid of the power to love.
There is some good in the worst of us and
some evil in the best of us.
When we discover this, we are less prone to
hate our enemies.”
“Everything that we see is a shadow cast
by that which we do not see.”
“Midnight is the hour when men desperately
seek to obey the eleventh commandment, 'Thou
shalt not get caught.'...The Darwinian concept
of the survival of the fittest has been substituted
by a philosophy of the survival of the slickest.
This mentality has brought a tragic breakdown
of moral standards, and the midnight of moral
degeneration deepens.
"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run
then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but
whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."
“The hope of the world is still in dedicated
minorities.
The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific
and religious freedom have always been in
the minority.
That creative minority of whites absolutely
committed to civil rights can make it clear
to the larger society that vacillation and
procrastination on the question of racial
justice can no longer be tolerated.”
“We must remember that intelligence is not
enough.
Intelligence plus character–that is the
goal of true education.
The complete education gives one not only
power of concentration, but worthy objectives
upon which to concentrate."
“Even though we face the difficulties of
today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.
It is a dream deeply rooted in the American
dream.
I have a dream that one day this nation will
rise up, live out the true meaning of its
creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident,
that all men'..." women, immigrants, all indigenous
people, people of all genders and sexualities,
all children, women, and men, all human beings,
all living beings, all people are created
equal.
