Quotes to inspire and reflect

The way for a young man to rise is to improve himself in every way he can, never suspecting that anybody wishes to hinder him.

I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.

Republicans are for both the man and the dollar, but in case of conflict the man before the dollar.

God must love the common man, he made so many of them.

A friend is one who has the same enemies as you have.

A woman is the only thing I am afraid of that I know will not hurt me.

Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak out and remove all doubt.

Don't worry when you are not recognized, but strive to be worthy of recognition.

I walk slowly, but I never walk backward.

Most folks are about as happy as they make their minds up to be.

America will never be destroyed from the outside. If we falter and lose our freedoms, it will be because we destroyed ourselves.

Be sure you put your feet in the right place, then stand firm.

I like to see a man proud of the place in which he lives. I like to see a man live so that his place will be proud of him.

Things may come to those who wait...but only the things left by those who hustle.

The time comes upon every public man when it is best for him to keep his lips closed.

I am not bound to win, but I am bound to be true. I am not bound to succeed, but I am bound to live by the light that I have. I must stand with anybody that stands right, and stand with him while he is right, and part with him when he goes wrong.

These capitalists generally act harmoniously and in concert, to fleece the people.

The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt.

The principle of self-defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.

It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society.

If I wish to compose or write or pray or preach well, I must be angry. Then all the blood in my veins is stirred, and my understanding is sharpened.

India One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.

The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.

Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.

I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the Promised Land.

Discovered the hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

Every man lives in two realms: the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live.

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.

The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That's the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.

We must use time creatively.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

Giving All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control.

Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.

Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one's soul.

There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.

There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.

Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.