I don't want a Black History Month. Black history is American history.
I have learned that success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has had to overcome while trying to succeed.
Bringing the gifts that my ancestors gave, I am the dream and the hope of the slave. I rise. I rise. I rise.
I am the dream and the hope of the slave
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Hate is too great a burden to bear.
Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.
What we need is not a history of selected races or nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.
Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we've been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.
Do not call for black power or green power. Call for brain power.
Defining myself, as opposed to being defined by others, is one of the most difficult challenges I face.
Black people have always been America's wilderness in search of a promised land.
Never be limited by other people's limited imaginations.
we are the ones we have been waiting for
The battles that count aren't the ones for gold medals. The struggles within yourself - the invisible, inevitable battles inside all of us - that's where it's at.
Every great dream begins with a dreamer.
We are the ones we've been waiting for.
The time is always right to do what is right.
I have learned over the years that when one's mind is made up, this diminishes fear; knowing what must be done does away with fear.
or simply:
