Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

No greater injury can be done to any youth than to let him feel that because he belongs to this or that race he will be advanced in life regardless of his own merits or efforts.

I believe in the spirit of equality and the spirit of this country as one of love and compassion and kindness.

The titanic effort that has brought liberation to South Africa, and ensured the total liberation of Africa, constitutes an act of redemption for the black people of the world.

The greatness of a nation can be judged by the way its animals are treated.

It sure is hell to be president.

There might be some serious fun in politics.

I detest racialism, because I regard it as a barbaric thing, whether it comes from a black man or a white man.

I happen to be a big fan of Western civilization; I think it beats the hell out of tyranny and starvation.

The natural progress of things is for liberty to yield and government to gain ground.

The truth is, in order to get things like universal health care and a revamped education system, then someone is going to have to give up a piece of their pie so that someone else can have more.

Babylon is everywhere. You have wrong and you have right. Wrong is what we call Babylon, wrong things. That is what Babylon is to me. I could have born in England, I could have born in America, it make no difference where me born, because there is Babylon everywhere.

The books that the world calls immoral are books that show the world its own shame.

All government, of course, is against liberty.

Democracy is a device that ensures we shall be governed no better than we deserve.

It is not possible for civilization to flow backwards while there is youth in the world. Youth may be headstrong, but it will advance it allotted length.

As in geology, so in social institutions, we may discover the causes of all past changes in the present invariable order of society.

There has to be a global mission of human progress.

Government isn’t that good at rapid advancement of technology. It tends to be better at funding basic research. To have things take off, you’ve got to have commercial companies do it.

The best government is a benevolent tyranny tempered by an occasional assassination.

Obamacare sucks, it can’t be fixed.

I think members of the legislature, people who have to run for office, know the connection between money and influence on what laws get passed.

In our seeking for economic and political progress, we all go up – or else we all go down.

Popular art is the dream of society; it does not examine itself.

I never could have done what I have done without the habits of punctuality, order, and diligence, without the determination to concentrate myself on one subject at a time.

If we help an educated man’s daughter to go to Cambridge are we not forcing her to think not about education but about war? – not how she can learn, but how she can fight in order that she might win the same advantages as her brothers?

All religions and all communities have the same rights, and it is my responsibility to ensure their complete and total protection. My government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.

A judge sworn to decide impartially can offer no forecasts, no hints, for that would show not only disregard for the specifics of the particular case, it would display disdain for the entire judicial process.

Justice cannot be for one side alone, but must be for both.

It will be of little avail to the people that the laws are made by men of their own choice if the laws be so voluminous that they cannot be read, or so incoherent that they cannot be understood.

I just usually go with my own taste. If I like something, and it happens to be against the law, well, then I might have a problem.

Justice in the life and conduct of the State is possible only as first it resides in the hearts and souls of the citizens.

I speak to you only as an American who happens to be an American Negro and one who is proud of that heritage. We ask for nothing special. We ask only that we be permitted to compete on an even basis, and if we are not worthy, then the competition shall, per se, eliminate us.

To know the laws is not to memorize their letter but to grasp their full force and meaning.

Our future cannot depend on the government alone. The ultimate solutions lie in the attitudes and the actions of the American people.

Never stir up litigation. A worse man can scarcely be found than one who does this.

Whenever you put a man on the Supreme Court he ceases to be your friend.

Since I have come to America, I am often asked whether my next novel will be set in America. I don’t think it will. I think I will be living in America for some time to come, but while living in America, I would like to write about Japanese society from the outside.

Is there something wrong with being a Muslim in this country? The answer’s no. That’s not America. Is there something wrong with some seven-year-old Muslim American kid believing that he or she could be president?

As a global society, we do not have to agree, endorse or condone the lifestyle choices of others. However, history has taught us that we equally cannot and should not excuse those who would hide behind religion or misuse God’s word to justify bigotry and persecution.

No race can prosper till it learns that there is as much dignity in tilling a field as in writing a poem.

If you have always believed that everyone should play by the same rules and be judged by the same standards, that would have gotten you labeled a radical 60 years ago, a liberal 30 years ago and a racist today.

I don’t stand for the black man’s side, I don‘ t stand for the white man’s side. I stand for God’s side.

So far as the government is concerned, there is only one holy book, which is the constitution of India. My government will not tolerate or accept any discrimination based on caste, creed and religion.

It has always been a mystery to me how men can feel themselves honoured by the humiliation of their fellow beings.

Personally, I’d like to see more of our leaders take a technocratic approach to solving our biggest problems.

Racism is real in this country.

The true danger is when liberty is nibbled away, for expedience, and by parts.

Our brand of democracy is hard. But I can promise that a year from now, when I no longer hold this office, I’ll be right there with you as a citizen – inspired by those voices of fairness and vision, of grit and good humor and kindness that have helped America travel so far.

Progressive art can assist people to learn not only about the objective forces at work in the society in which they live, but also about the intensely social character of their interior lives. Ultimately, it can propel people toward social emancipation.

If you have ten thousand regulations you destroy all respect for the law.

Blacks, especially in America, have been raised with a slave mentality – they don’t feel that they have the right to speak as loud as possible.

The little man is still a man.

No government ever voluntarily reduces itself in size. Government programs, once launched, never disappear. Actually, a government bureau is the nearest thing to eternal life we’ll ever see on this earth!

A jury consists of twelve persons chosen to decide who has the better lawyer.

International affairs is very much run like the mafia. The godfather does not accept disobedience, even from a small storekeeper who doesn’t pay his protection money. You have to have obedience; otherwise, the idea can spread that you don’t have to listen to the orders, and it can spread to important places.

What you’re seeing with Occupy Wall Street and the others are people who are unhappy and they’re directing their unhappiness now toward Wall Street and toward those they think are doing too well in our society.

Once spirit was God, then it became man, and now it is even becoming mob.

A lot of people are bored of all the political correctness.

This country, with its institutions, belongs to the people who inhabit it. Whenever they shall grow weary of the existing government, they can exercise their constitutional right of amending it, or exercise their revolutionary right to overthrow it.

Children need to get a high-quality education, avoid violence and the criminal-justice system, and gain jobs. But they deserve more. We want them to learn not only reading and math but fairness, caring, self-respect, family commitment, and civic duty.