“Of this I am quite sure, that if we open a quarrel between the past and the present, we shall find that we have lost the future.”

“The truth is incontrovertible. Panic may resent it, ignorance may deride it, malice may distort it, but there it is.”

“Courage is rightly esteemed the first of human qualities, because it is the quality which guarantees all others.”

“No one pretends that democracy is perfect or all-wise. Indeed, it has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all those other forms that have been tried from time to time.”

“The empires of the future are the empires of the mind.”

“Now this is not the end. It is not even the beginning of the end. But it is, perhaps, the end of the beginning.”

“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.”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

“Like slavery and apartheid, poverty is not natural. It is man-made and it can be overcome and eradicated by the actions of human beings. Overcoming poverty is not a gesture of charity. It is an act of justice.”

“If you want to make peace with your enemy, you have to work with your enemy. Then he becomes your partner.”

“During my lifetime I have dedicated myself to this struggle of the African people. I have fought against white domination, and I have fought against black domination. I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities. It is an ideal which I hope to live for and to achieve. But if needs be, it is an ideal for which I am prepared to die.”