In this, of all the countries in the world, possession of inordinate wealth by individuals should be held as a crime against Indian humanity.
Every labourer is worthy of his hire. No country can produce thousands of unpaid whole-time workers.
My love of nationalism is that my country may become free, and if need be, the whole of the country die, so that the human race may live.
A man or a woman who serves the country with all his or her heart stands on par with the tallest Congress-man.
I hold no man to be indispensable for the welfare of the country.
Indeed, the test of orderliness in a country is not the number of millionaires it owns, but the absence of starvation among its masses.
Well, India is a country of nonsense.
The true democrat is he who with purely nonviolent means defends his liberty and, therefore, his country’s and ultimately that of the whole of mankind.
Roving dogs do not indicate the civilisation or compassion of the society. They betray on the country the ignorance and lethargy of its members.
It took Britain half the resources of the planet to achieve its prosperity; how many planets will a country like India require?
The black nation of Egypt is the only country that has a science named after its culture: Egyptology.
It is a time for martyrs now, and if I am to be one, it will be for the cause of brotherhood. That’s the only thing that can save this country.
The same rebellion, the same impatience, the same anger that exists in the hearts of the dark people in Africa and Asia is existing in the hearts and minds of 20 million black people in this country who have been just as thoroughly colonized as the people in Africa and Asia.
I don’t favor violence. If we could bring about recognition and respect of our people by peaceful means, well and good. Everybody would like to reach his objectives peacefully. But I’m also a realist. The only people in this country who are asked to be nonviolent are black people.
There seems in most countries to be either one extreme or the other. Truly a paradise could exist wherever material progress and spiritual values could be properly balanced.
The cornerstones of this country’s operation are economic and political strength and power. The black man doesn’t have the economic strength – and it will take time for him to build it. But right now the American black man has the political strength and power to change his destiny overnight.
And in the racial climate of this country today, it is anybody’s guess which of the ‘extremes’ in approach to the black man’s problems might personally meet a fatal catastrophe first – ‘non-violent’ Dr. King, or so-called ‘violent’ me.
In my recent travels into African countries and others, I was impressed by the importance of having a working unity among all peoples, black as well as white.
It’s easy to become a satellite today without even being aware of it. This country can seduce God. Yes, it has that seductive power; the power of the dollar.
Think of the country mouse and of the town mouse, and of the alarm and trepidation of the town mouse.