“Our language is the reflection of ourselves. A language is an exact reflection of the character and growth of its speakers.”

I became a vegetarian after realizing that animals feel afraid, cold, hungry and unhappy like we do. I feel very deeply about vegetarianism and the animal kingdom.

Being of service is not enough. You must become a servant of the people. When you do, you can demand their commitment in return.

Organizing is an educational process. The best educational process in the union is the picket line and the boycott. You learn about life.

To make a great dream come true, the first requirement is a great capacity to dream; the second is persistence.

Once social change begins, it cannot be reversed.

We’ll organize workers in this movement as long as we’re willing to sacrifice. The moment we stop sacrificing, we stop organizing.

There is no substitute for hard work, 23 or 24 hours a day. And there is no substitute for patience and acceptance.

The end of all knowledge must be the building up of character.

You are never strong enough that you don’t need help.

The non-violent technique does not depend for its success on the goodwill of the oppressor, but rather on the unfailing assistance of God.

Our language is the reflection of ourselves.

When you sacrifice, you force others to sacrifice. It’s an extremely powerful weapon.

We have looked into the future and the future is ours.

When you have people together who believe in something very strongly – whether it’s religion or politics or unions – things happen.

Only when we have become nonviolent towards all life will we have learned to live well with others.

Do not romanticize the poor. We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others. Our poverty damages our dignity.

I’m probably 20 percent atheist and 80 percent agnostic. I don’t think anyone really knows. You’ll either find out or not when you get there, until then there’s no point thinking about it.

Nothing adds such dignity to character as the recognition of one’s self- sovereignty.

The best loved by God are those that are rich, yet have the humility of the poor, and those that are poor and have the magnanimity of the rich.

By nature, I keep moving, man. My theory is, be the shark. You’ve just got to keep moving. You can’t stop.

In the 1960s, The National Education Association changed its character. The NEA changed into a union. And from that point on you can see deterioration in the quality of schooling in the United States.

A person is an individual substance of a rational nature.

Whoever recounts to you the faults of your neighbour will doubtless expose your defects to others.

When you oppose the shaykh, it’s like the slave who kills himself over a quarrel with his master. ‘Hey, why are you killing yourself over a quarrel?’ He says, ‘So my master will suffer loss.’