John Lewis

"Cowardice asks: is it safe? Expediency asks: is it politic? Vanity asks: is it popular? But conscience asks: is it right?"

"A man can die but once. God does not require you to die for Him; but he does require that you struggle daily."

"I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream."

"The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers."

"When you suddenly find a friend, you find a treasure."

"We must come to see that peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold."

"The question is: are we to remain silent while evil has free rein, or do we voice our dissent?"

"I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek."

"Likeness of form is not important; likeness of spirit is."

"True spirituality has always meant self-sacrifice; it always demands that we give up some of our own to help others."

"Nonviolence means you do not submit to evil, but you resist evil without violence."

"All people are created equal and deserve equal rights and dignity."

"Loving your enemies does not mean liking them personally."

"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover these precious values."

"The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."

"We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead."

"Every person has the right to live in a house, to get a good education, to gain employment."

"Life is what happens while we are making other plans."

"The way of peace is the way of love."

"Our generation will either abolish war or it will abolish us."

"The book, the bed, and the Bible have always been the three sacred things of my life."

"An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law."

"Let us be peacefully maladjusted to the evils of our time."

"Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power."

"Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

"The ultimate strength of any nation comes not from its military might but from its moral foundation."

"In the dark nights of our lives, faith becomes the only light."

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low."

"Justice for all has always been the American promise."

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."