It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: -- we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.

There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation when they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

The more there are riots, the more repressive actin will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others? Living is a form of not being sure, not knowing what next or how. The moment you know how, you begin to die a little.

We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always hope to do great things.

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.