“Racism is a blight on the human conscience.”

The true character of a society is revealed in how it treats its children.

Courage is not the absence of fear. It is inspiring others to move beyond it.

There is nothing more important in life than giving. Tolerance is forged when people look beyond their own desires.

No problem is so deep that it cannot be overcome, given the will of all parties, through discussion and negotiation rather than force and violence.

It always seems impossible until it’s done.

Everyone can rise above their circumstances and achieve success if they are dedicated to and passionate about what they do.

Blaming things on the past does not make them better.

Rhetoric is not important. Actions are.

A leader is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

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.

There can be no greater gift than that of giving one’s time and energy to help others without expecting anything in return.

Our task is not to liberate the oppressed, but to liberate the oppressors

It is so easy to break down and destroy. The heroes are those who make peace and build.

No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.

Peace is the greatest weapon for development that any person can have.

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

Every fresh act of sin lessens fear and remorse, hardens our hearts, blunts the edge of our conscience, and increases our evil inclination.

How can we be “free” as conscious agents if everything that we consciously intend is caused by events in our brain that we do not intend and of which we are entirely unaware? We can’t.

Conviction is not merely an opinion. It is something rooted so deeply in the conscience that to change a conviction would be to change the very essence of who you are.

A consoling thought: what matters is not what we do, but the spirit in which we do it. Others suffer too; so much so that there is nothing in the world but suffering; the problem is simply to keep a clear conscience.

Forgetfulness – a gift of God bestowed upon debtors in compensation for their destitution of conscience.

Self-respect and a clear conscience are powerful components of integrity and are the basis for enriching your relationships with others.

Freedom of conscience, of education, of speech, of assembly are among the very fundamentals of democracy and all of them would be nullified should freedom of the press ever be successfully challenged.

A great business has to have a conscience. You have to know who you are and who you are not.