“When a great truth once gets abroad in the world, no power on earth can imprison it, or prescribe its limits, or suppress it. It is bound to go on till it becomes the thought of the world.”

“The life of the nation is secure only while the nation is honest, truthful, and virtuous.”

“Let the nation try justice and the problem will be solved.”

“What I ask for the negro is not benevolence, not pity, not sympathy, but simply justice.”

“No man can put a chain about the ankle of his fellow man without at last finding the other end fastened about his own neck.”

“If there is no struggle, there is no progress. Those who profess to favor freedom, and yet depreciate agitation, are men who want crops without plowing up the ground. They want rain without thunder and lightning. They want the ocean without the awful roar of its many waters.”

“Happiness is the final and perfect fruit of obedience to the laws of life.”

“The highest result of education is tolerance.”

“Example is the best lesson there is.”

“Only a man's character is the real criterion of worth.”

“It isn't enough to talk about peace. One must believe in it. And it isn't enough to believe in it. One must work at it.”

“In the long run, we shape our lives and we shape ourselves. The process never ends until we die. And the choices we make are ultimately our own responsibility.”