All too many of those who live in affluent America ignore those who exist in poor America; in doing so, the affluent Americans will eventually have to face themselves with the question that Eichman chose to ignore: How responsible am I for the well-being of my fellows?
We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.
True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved. We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.
We must face the appalling fact that we have been betrayed by both the Democratic and Republican Parties.
A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.
When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.
We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.
We are called to speak for the weak, for the voiceless, for the victims of our nation and for those it calls enemy, for no document from human hands can make these humans any less our brothers and sisters.
One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change.
Like anybody, I would like to have a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will.
What affects one in a major way, affects all in a minor way.
When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.
Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God’s children.
Be a thermostat not a thermometer.
Let us rise up tonight with a greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.
Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.
I choose to give my life for those who have been left out of the sunlight of opportunity.
And so 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.
The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.
We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.