Status in English

What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.

I am not prepared to wait until freedom comes. I am active in its pursuit.

There is no easy path to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

I have discovered the secret that after climbing a great hill, one only finds that there are many more hills to climb.

The time is always ripe to do right.

A leader... is like a shepherd. He stays behind the flock, letting the most nimble go out ahead, whereupon the others follow, not realizing that all along they are being directed from behind.

I have cherished the ideal of a democratic and free society in which all persons live together in harmony and with equal opportunities.

I am not a saint, unless you think of a saint as a sinner who keeps on trying.

I hate race discrimination most intensely and in all its manifestations. I have fought it all during my life; I fight it now, and will do so until the end of my days.

Education is the great engine of personal development. It is through education that the daughter of a peasant can become a doctor, that the son of a mineworker can become the head of the mine, that a child of farm workers can become the president of a great nation.

There is no easy walk to freedom anywhere, and many of us will have to pass through the valley of the shadow of death again and again before we reach the mountaintop of our desires.

As we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.