“Something is happening in Memphis; something is happening in our world. And you know, if I were standing at the beginning of time, with the possibility of taking a kind of general and panoramic view of the whole of human history up to now, and the Almighty said to me, "Martin Luther King, which age would you like to live in?" I would take my mental flight by Egypt and I would watch God's children in their magnificent trek from the dark dungeons of Egypt through, or rather across the Red Sea, through the wilderness on toward the promised land. And in spite of its magnificence, I wouldn't stop there. I would move on by Greece and take my mind to Mount Olympus. And I would see Plato, Aristotle, Socrates, Euripides and Aristophanes assembled around the Parthenon. And I would watch them around the Parthenon as they discussed the great and eternal issues of reality. But I wouldn't stop there. I would go on, even to the great heyday of the Roman Empire. And I would see developments around there, through various emperors and leaders. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the day of the Renaissance, and get a quick picture of all that the Renaissance did for the cultural and aesthetic life of man. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even go by the way that the man for whom I am named had his habitat. And I would watch Martin Luther as he tacked his ninety-five theses on the door at the church of Wittenberg. But I wouldn't stop there. I would come on up even to 1863, and watch a vacillating President by the name of Abraham Lincoln finally come to the conclusion that he had to sign the Emancipation Proclamation. But I wouldn't stop there. I would even come up to the early thirties, and see a man grappling with the problems of the bankruptcy of his nation. And come with an eloquent cry that we have nothing to fear but "fear itself." But I wouldn't stop there.”

“A better life can only come when the consciousness of men is altered for the better; and therefore, those who wish to improve life must direct all their efforts towards changing both their own and other people’s consciousness.”

“Boredom is desire seeking desire.”

“Subtle is the Lord. Malicious, He is not.” 

“The most important decision you will ever make is the decision you make about eternity.”

“I think growing up in a small town is a good foundation for anyone who decides to enter politics. You get to know people as individuals, not as blocs or members of special interest groups.”

“What a mistake to suppose that the passions are strongest in youth. The passions are not stronger, but the control over them is weaker. They are more easily excited; they are more violent and apparent, but they have less energy, less durability, less intense and concentrated power than in mature life.”

“The important thing is never to stop questioning.”

“We do not need guns and bombs to bring peace, we need love and compassion.”

“Golden years' must have been coined by the young. It is doubtful that anyone over seventy would have described this phase of life with such a symbolic word.”

“And we know that all things work together for good to them that love God, to them who are the called according to his purpose. ROMANS 8:28 KJV”

“And the moujiks? How do the moujiks die?”

“I will permit no man to narrow and degrade my soul by making me hate him.”

“Marriage is God’s invention, not ours! Society didn’t establish it; God did.”

“Successful people are simply those with successful habits.