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.

Our Declaration of Independence was held sacred by all and thought to include all; but now, to aid in making the bondage of the Negro universal and eternal, it is assailed, sneered at, construed, hawked at, and torn, till, if its framers could rise from their graves, they could not at all recognize it.

Until justice is blind to color, until education is unaware of race, until opportunity is unconcerned with the color of men’s skins, emancipation will be a proclamation but not a fact.

I realized quickly what Mandela and Tambo meant to ordinary Africans. It was a place where they could come and find a sympathetic ear and a competent ally, a place where they would not be either turned away or cheated, a place where they might actually feel proud to be represented by men of their own skin color.

In matters of truth and justice, there is no difference between large and small problems, for issues concerning the treatment of people are all the same.

It is better that some should be unhappy rather than that none should be happy, which would be the case in a general state of equality.

America is known as a country that welcomes people to its shores. All kinds of people. The image of the Statue of Liberty with Emma Lazarus‘ famous poem. She lifts her lamp and welcomes people to the golden shore, where they will not experience prejudice because of the color of their skin, the religious faith that they follow.

Clever and attractive women do not want to vote; they are willing to let men govern as long as they govern men.

If liberty and equality, as is thought by some, are chiefly to be found in democracy, they will be best attained when all persons alike share in government to the utmost.

You can tell the strength of a nation by the women behind its men.

In too many communities, too many young men of color are left behind and seen only as objects of fear. Through initiatives like My Brother’s Keeper, I’m personally committed to changing both perception and reality.

Wouldn’t it be great if we could look forward to a whole world in which no child will be left behind?

The purpose of Compulsory Education is to deprive the common people of their commonsense.

The social and physical construction of suburban America really was quite complex. It was a very elaborate system, and clearly a massive social engineering project that has changed U.S. society enormously.

I say to you quite frankly that the time for racial discrimination is over.

To an ordinary human being, love means nothing if it does not mean loving some people more than others.

It is the greatest of all advantages to enjoy no advantage at all.

We have an idea that we Americans are God’s chosen people, that God loves us more than any other people, and that we are God’s blessed. I tell you that God doesn’t love us any more than He does the Russians.

There is but one stage for the peasant and the actor.

You definitely want your kids to understand their heritage, but I don’t want my kids to just focus on being black. They are people. I don’t want them to judge other people or to be judged. I want them to be good people, so good people will treat them accordingly. I preach that to my kids and everything else falls into place.

There is no such thing as part freedom.

Trouble brews when we steal from the poor and give to the rich.

I think what you’re seeing is a profound recognition on the part of the American people that gays and lesbians and transgender persons are our brothers, our sisters, our children, our cousins, our friends, our co-workers, and that they’ve got to be treated like every other American. And I think that principle will win out.

I refuse to allow any man-made differences to separate me from any other human beings.

Never, never and never again shall it be that this beautiful land will again experience the oppression of one by another.

I’m not focused on the gay and lesbian movement.

Then not only custom, but also nature affirms that to do is more disgraceful than to suffer injustice, and that justice is equality.

If proud Americans can be who they are and boldly stand at the altar with who they love then surely, surely we can give everyone in this country a fair chance at that great American Dream.

Boys will be boys. And even that wouldn’t matter if only we could prevent girls from being girls.

Yeah, I did see where the people dissing me were coming from. But, it’s like, anything that happened in the past between black and white, I can’t really speak on it, because I wasn’t there. I don’t feel like me being born the color I am makes me any less of a person.

A black person grows up in this country – and in many places – knowing that racism will be as familiar as salt to the tongue. Also, it can be as dangerous as too much salt. I think that you must struggle for betterment for yourself and for everyone.

Let there be work, bread, water and salt for all.

To the best of my judgment, I have labored for, and not against, the Union. As I have not felt, so I have not expressed any harsh sentiment towards our Southern brethren. I have constantly declared, as I really believed, the only difference between them and us is the difference of circumstances.

I will not sit in a room with black people when the N word is used. I know it was meant to belittle a person, so I will not sit there and have that poison put on me. Now a black person can say, ‚Oh, you know, I can use this word because I’m black.‘

The day will come – and it is not far off – when the legacy of Lincoln will finally be fulfilled at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, when a black man or woman will sit in the Oval Office. When that day comes, the most remarkable thing about it will be how naturally it occurs.

We are not actually equal – humanity – if we are not allowed to freely love one another.

We’re not trying to make you less of a man. We just want you to love us as deeply and as wholesomely and as fully as we love you.

A good wife is one who serves her husband in the morning like a mother does, loves him in the day like a sister does and pleases him like a prostitute in the night.

Let us remember we are all part of one American family. We are united in common values, and that includes belief in equality under the law, basic respect for public order, and the right of peaceful protest.

The beginning of reform is not so much to equalize property as to train the noble sort of natures not to desire more, and to prevent the lower from getting more.

When you single out any particular group of people for secondary citizenship status, that’s a violation of basic human rights.

I separated from the Southern Baptists when they adopted the discriminatory attitude towards women, because I believe what Paul taught in Galatians that there is no distinction in God’s eyes between men and women, slaves and masters, Jews and non-Jews – everybody is created equally in the eyes of God.

The worst form of inequality is to try to make unequal things equal.

Women always excel men in that sort of wisdom which comes from experience. To be a woman is in itself a terrible experience.

Remember, it’s as easy to marry a rich woman as a poor woman.

In the white community, the path to a more perfect union means acknowledging that what ails the African-American community does not just exist in the minds of black people; that the legacy of discrimination – and current incidents of discrimination, while less overt than in the past – are real and must be addressed.

It has always been my belief that a man should do his best, regardless of how much he receives for his services, or the number of people he may be serving or the class of people served.

There’s not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.

We don’t want two-tier people in America. Those who are legal but not citizens, and citizens.

To terrify children with the image of hell… to consider women an inferior creation. Is that good for the world?

The welfare state is not really about the welfare of the masses. It is about the egos of the elites.

I know I got it made while the masses of black people are catchin‘ hell, but as long as they ain’t free, I ain’t free.

These men ask for just the same thing, fairness, and fairness only. This, so far as in my power, they, and all others, shall have.

The state controlling a woman would mean denying her full autonomy and full equality.

Men feel that cruelty to the poor is a kind of cruelty to animals. They never feel that it is an injustice to equals; nay it is treachery to comrades.

The battle for the individual rights of women is one of long standing and none of us should countenance anything which undermines it.

I never wanted to weigh more heavily on a man than a bird.

Any woman who understands the problems of running a home will be nearer to understanding the problems of running a country.

What, sir, would the people of the earth be without woman? They would be scarce, sir, almighty scarce.

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

Black Americans, no more than white Americans, they do not want more government programs which perpetuate dependency. They don’t want to be a colony in a nation.