“There is just so much hurt, disappointment, and oppression one can take. The line between reason and madness grows thinner.”

Our mistreatment was just not right, and I was tired of it.

If I can sit down for freedom, you can stand up for children.

I have learned over the years that when one’s mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.

I learned to put my trust in God and to see Him as my strength.

I think when you say you’re happy, you have everything that you need and everything that you want, and nothing more to wish for.

Knowing what must be done does away with fear.

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.

It’s always difficult for anyone trying to compete against their past achievements.

People don’t have any mercy. They tear you limb from limb, in the name of love.

If we will be quiet and ready enough, we shall find compensation in every disappointment.

If friends disappoint you over and over, that’s in large part your own fault.

It is better to disappoint people with the truth than to appease them with a lie.

It is better to disappoint people with the truth than to appease them with a lie.

Do not do to others what angers you if done to you by others.

Nothing you have not given away will ever really be yours.