“People need to free their minds of all racial prejudice.”

Without vision, the people will perish, and without courage and inspiration, dreams will die – the dream of freedom and peace.

I will no longer act on the outside in a way that contradicts the truth that I hold deeply inside. I will no longer act as if I were less than the whole person I know myself inwardly to be.

I had decided that I would not go anywhere with a piece of paper in my hand asking white folks for any favors. I had made that decision myself, as an individual.

Nothing in the Golden Rule says that others will treat us as we have treated them. It only says that we must treat others in a way that we would want to be treated.

I want to be treated like a human being.

If I stayed angry at other people, I would miss finding friends among those I was angry with.

Why do you all push us around?

As long as we have bigotry and crime, we have work to do.

I was a person with dignity and self-respect, and I should not set my sights lower than anybody else just because I was black.

As long as people use tactics to oppress or restrict other people from being free, there is work to be done.

There is work to do; that is why I cannot stop or sit still.

We didn’t have any civil rights. It was just a matter of survival, of existing from one day to the next.

I see the energy of young people as a real force for positive change.

Black women are very capable of leading our organizations. I believe that firmly.

You must never be fearful about what you are doing when it is right.

There are restroom facilities for white ladies and colored women, white men and colored men. We stand outside after being served at the same ticket counter instead of sitting on the inside.

If you’re going to be free! You’re going to have to free YOURSELF!

I imagine therefore I belong and am free.

To feed men and not to love them is to treat them as if they were barnyard cattle. To love them and not respect them is to treat them as if they were household pets.

I don’t mind what happens. That is the essence of inner freedom. It is a timeless spiritual truth: release attachment to outcomes, deep inside yourself, you’ll feel good no matter what.

There is no dignity quite so impressive, and no one independence quite so important, as living within your means.

You cannot parcel out freedom in pieces because freedom is all or nothing.

We demand entire freedom of action and then expect the government in some miraculous way to save us from the consequences of our own acts. Self-government means self-reliance.

Free your heart from hatred – forgive. Free your mind from worries – most never happen. Live simply and appreciate what you have. Give more. Expect less.