“There is no such thing as part freedom”

“Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.”

“An unjust law is itself a species of violence. Arrest for its breach is more so.”

“We faced it and did not resist. The storm passed through us and around us. It's gone, but we remain.”

“Every time you resist temptation you are winning for your children.”

“Here the Lord is saying to us, “If any of you is fainthearted, you will not be able to stand against the enemy.” A fainthearted person cannot take much. He has to have everything a certain way or he gives up and quits. He gets discouraged and depressed quickly. He gets his feelings hurt easily. Everything bothers him. He is touchy. If that describes you, I want you to know that you don't have to stay that way. The power of God is available to you to break that fainthearted spirit off your life.

“Old age has its compensations. More than ever I see each day as a gift from God. It is also a time to reflect back on God’s goodness over the years and an opportunity to assure others that God truly is faithful to His promises.”

“The alternate domination of one faction over another, sharpened by the spirit of revenge, natural to party dissension, which in different ages and countries has perpetrated the most horrid enormities, is itself a frightful despotism. But this leads at length to a more formal and permanent despotism. The disorders and miseries, which result, gradually incline the minds of men to seek security and repose in the absolute power of an individual; and sooner or later the chief of some prevailing faction, more able or more fortunate than his competitors, turns this disposition to the purposes of his own elevation, on the ruins of Public Liberty.”

“The first misconception is that we confuse fear with humility. We tend to say, “Oh, I could never do that,” and we think we’re being humble. But that is not humility. That is fear; that is a lack of faith. A truly humble person would say, “With God’s help, I can do it. With God’s blessing, I will do it. I may not be able to do it on my own, but with God’s help I will do it.” That’s real humility.” 

“Many of the mysteries of God—the heartaches, trials, disappointments, tragedies, and the silence of God in the midst of suffering—will be revealed in heaven.”

“If you don’t do what you love, you will never love what you do. And if you don’t love whatever you do, you are likely to be worried anytime a duty is assigned to you concerning that.”

“The evidence of Martin Luther King Jnr’s “I have a dream” declaration was a passionate confirmation of how a dream meant for liberation, success and fulfilled life can become true.”

“We did live in dire poverty. And one of the things that I hated was poverty. Some people hate spiders. Some people hate snakes. I hated poverty. I couldn't stand it. My mother couldn't stand the fact that we were doing poorly in school, and she prayed and she asked God to give her wisdom. What could she do to get her young sons to understand the importance of developing their minds so that they control their own lives? God gave her the wisdom. At least in her opinion. My brother and I didn't think it was that wise. Turn off the TV, let us watch only two or three TV programs during the week. And with all that spare time read two books a piece from the Detroit Public Libraries and submit to her written book reports, which she couldn't read but we didn't know that. I just hated this. My friends were out having a good time. Her friends would criticize her. My mother didn't care. But after a while I actually began to enjoy reading those books. Because we were very poor, but between the covers of those books I could go anywhere. I could be anybody. I could do anything. I began to read about people of great accomplishment. And as I read those stories, I began to see a connecting thread. I began to see that the person who has the most to do with you, and what happens to you in life, is you. You make decisions. You decide how much energy you want to put behind that decision. And I came to understand that I had control of my own destiny. And at that point I didn't hate poverty anymore, because I knew it was only temporary. I knew I could change that. It was incredibly liberating for me. Made all the difference.” 

“You will give birth to more in the future than you’ve lost in the past.”

“He who is slow to anger is better than the mighty, and he who rules his spirit than he who takes a city” (RSV).”