“You have to be optimistic just in keeping with the philosophy of non-violence.”

You cannot give up – you have to be persistent and keep pushing, and press on.

Sometimes I feel like crying, tears of happiness, tears of joy, to see the distance we’ve come and the progress we’ve made.

Non violence as a way of life, a way of living, not simply as a technique or a tactic.

Say something. Have the courage. Have the backbone. Get in the way. Walk with the wind. It’s all going to work out.

You have to have the capacity and the ability to take what people did, and how they did it, and forgive them and move on.

Every single vote is precious.

We never gave up. We didn’t get lost in a sea of despair. We kept the faith. We kept pushing and pulling. We kept marching. And we made some progress.

We must do the work that justice and equality calls us to do.

I think all Americans should be hopeful, and try to be optimistic.

There is a need for a movement of non-violent direct action.

By the force of our demands, our determination, and our numbers, we shall splinter the segregated South into a thousand pieces and put them together in the image of God and democracy

You have to go with your gut sometimes, and how you feel.

It is my hope that people today will see that, in another time, in another period, when we saw the need for people to speak up, to organize, to mobilize, and to do something about injustice, we came together.

We cannot stop, and we will not and cannot be patient.

I think my whole life has been one of sort of daring, and sort of sailing against the wind instead of just going with the wind.

The government, both state and federal, has a duty to be reasonable and accommodating.

We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.

Non violence as a way of life, a way of living, not simply as a technique or a tactic.

There is a need for a movement of non-violent direct action.

Violence is not only impractical but immoral.

Liberty and democracy become unholy when their hands are dyed red with innocent blood.

I don’t wish power, only art -art and passion.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Nonviolent action, born of the awareness of suffering and nurtured by love, is the most effective way to confront adversity.