John Lewis

"A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law."

"Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle."

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity."

"I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism."

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."

"I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up."

"True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see an edifice that produces beggars."

"Never adjust your truth. Adjust your passion to your capacity to execute."

"The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality."

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase."

"Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better."

"When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong you cannot be too conservative."

"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality and freedom for their spirits."

"Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary."

"Darkness cannot drive out darkness—only light can. Hate cannot drive out hate—only love can."

"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important."

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable; every step toward equality is contested."

"We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools."

"The evils of capitalism are as real as the evils of militarism and racism."

"I am not interested in freedom of the body, only freedom of the mind."

"All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

"Man's capacity for justice makes democracy possible; but man's inclination to injustice makes democracy necessary."

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive."

"If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets as Raphael painted pictures."

"The time is always right to do what is right."

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies?"

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is: what are you doing for others?"

"Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."

"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."

"Nothing pains some people more than having to think."