Bayard Rustin

"Young people come into the world thinking they can change it. That's good. Don't let anybody disabuse you of that."

"We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was legal and constitutional."

"To be African American and gay was a monumental combination of obstacles to overcome."

"I believe that non-violent resistance to evil is as much a moral obligation as is violent resistance to evil."

"The extent to which we can become free depends upon the extent to which we can be honest with ourselves."

"You will not find permanent allies in the struggle for human rights."

"I will be remembered as the man who taught nonviolence to America."

"A man is measured by the size of the dreams he dares to dream."

"Poverty is the worst form of violence."

"The job of the activist is not just to move information, but to move the hearts and minds of the people."

"I think that it is mandatory for us to understand that the poor are going to do what the poor have to do."

"If I cannot be myself in the movement, I am not interested in being in the movement."

"You have to assume that your time is coming to an end, and that is not a morbid thought."

"The difference between a person and an animal is that a person can make a choice."

"I am convinced that nonviolence is more powerful than violence."

"Every man is capable of changing, and every organization is capable of being wrong."

"We are challenging those who practice segregation."

"The Negro must be free to live his life without the restrictions and inhibitions placed upon him because of his color."

"I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history."

"A person can be as young as his faith and as old as his doubts."

"The beauty of nonviolent technique is that there is something to do at every level of oppression."

"Hatred can never drive out hatred, only love can do that."

"Walk with me, talk with me, tell me what you think."

"The role of an activist is to try to change things in the world."

"I think the best way to change the world is to change ourselves."

"We cannot afford to be complacent about injustice anywhere."

"You cannot reach goals that you do not believe in reaching."

"The principal role of the intellectual is to speak the truth to power."

"I believe that we must make a total commitment to human rights."

"The alternative to nonviolence is nonexistence."