All governments need enemies. How else to justify their existence?
There's not an American in this country free until every one of us is free.
A life is not important except in the impact it has on other lives.
I'm not concerned with your liking or disliking me. . . All I ask is that you respect me as a human being.
Life is not a spectator sport. If you're going to spend your whole life in the grandstand just watching what goes on, in my opinion you're wasting your life.
I had to fight hard against loneliness, abuse, and the knowledge that any mistakes I made would be magnified because I was the only black man out there. . . I never cared about acceptance as much as I cared about respect.
The most luxurious possession, the richest treasure anybody has, is his personal dignity.
As Americans, we have shown ourselves to have the greatest military on the face of the planet, but we are not so very good at anticipating threats and appreciating just how difficult it is to build up stable democracies, to make the investments and sustainable development that we must as a nation if we are to attack the root causes of these sorts of instability.
You are the makers of your own fortunes. You make yourselves suffer, you make good and evil, and it is you who put your hands before your eyes and say it is dark. Take your hands away and see the light.
What I would hope to do is painting, because I don't think I'm qualified for anything else. My last job would be babysitting, so I don't think Starbucks would even hire me.
Certain travelers give the impression that they keep moving because only then do they feel fully alive.