Great Throughts Treasury

"The unhealthy gap between what we preach in America and what we often practice creates a moral dry rot that eats at the very foundation of our democratic ideals and values."

"The truth is that there is nothing noble in being superior to."

"Black is beautiful when it is a slum kid studying to enter college, when it is a man learning new skills for a new job."

"Every man is our brother, and every man’s burden is our own. Where poverty exists, all are poorer. Where hate flourishes, all are corrupted. Where injustice reins, all are unequal."

"Black Power simply means: Look at me, I'm here. I have dignity. I have pride. I have roots. I insist, I demand that I participate in those decisions that affect my life and the lives of my children. It means that I am somebody."

"I am not anxious to be the loudest voice or the most popular. But I would like to think that at a crucial moment, I was an effective voice of the voiceless, an effective hope of the hopeless."

"I'd rather be prepared for an opportunity that never comes than have an opportunity come and I am not prepared."

"I've been on so many blind dates I should get a free dog."

"Our ability to create has outreached our ability to use wisely the products of our invention."

"Pride and dignity come when you reach in your pocket and find money, not a hole."

"Liberalism seems to be related to the distance people are from the problem."

"You can holler, protest, march, picket and demonstrate, but somebody must be able to sit in on the strategy conferences and plot a course. There must be strategies, the researchers, the professionals to carry out the program. That's our role."

"Support the strong, give courage to the timid, remind the indifferent, and warn the opposed."

"The hardest work in the world is being out of work."

"We create an environment where it is alright to hate, to steal, to cheat, and to lie if we dress it up with symbols of respectability, dignity and love."