“I’m the world’s original gradualist. I just think ninety-odd years is gradual enough.”

Our Constitution is the envy of the world, as it should be for it is the grand design of the finest nation on earth.

Truth is more than a mental exercise.

Some years ago I said in an opinion that if this country is a melting pot, then either the Afro-Americans didn’t get in the pot or he didn’t get melted down.

A child born to a Black mother in a state like Mississippi… has exactly the same rights as a white baby born to the wealthiest person in the United States. It’s not true, but I challenge anyone to say it is not a goal worth working for.

A man can make what he wants of himself if he truly believes that he must be ready for hard work and many heartbreaks.

It is a historic step toward eliminating the shameful practice of racial discrimination in the selection of juries.

If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.

None of us got where we are solely by pulling ourselves up by our bootstraps.

The United States has been called the melting pot of the world. But it seems to me that the colored man either missed getting into the pot or he got melted down.

The ban directly hampers the partys ability to spread its message and hamstrings voters seeking to inform themselves about the candidates and issues.

Sometimes history takes things into its own hands.

The First Amendment serves not only the needs of the polity but also those of the human spirit – a spirit that demands self-expression .

The measure of a country’s greatness is its ability to retain compassion in time of crisis.

Our whole constitutional heritage rebels at the thought of giving government the power to control men’s minds.

The death penalty is no more effective a deterrent than life imprisonment. It is also evident that the burden of capital punishment falls upon the poor, the ignorant and the underprivileged members of society.

Ending racial discrimination in jury selection can be accomplished only by eliminating peremptory challenges entirely.

Very little is needed to make a happy life; it is all within yourself in your way of thinking.

I think if there was anything I learned from our skipper was that it’s not how you look; it’s how you perform.

If you get up in the morning and think the future is going to be better, it is a bright day. Otherwise, it’s not.

As you enter positions of trust and power, dream a little before you think.

It is the job of thinking people not to be on the side of the executioners.

Men will always be mad, and those who think they can cure them are the maddest of all.

You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.

I don’t care what you think about me. I don’t think about you at all.