If any man claims the Negro should be content ... let him say he would willingly change the color of his skin and go to live in the Negro section of a large city. Then and only then has he a right to such a claim.
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Ultimately, America's answer to the intolerant man is diversity, the very diversity which our heritage of religious freedom has inspired.
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It is from numberless diverse acts of courage and belief that human history is shaped. Each time a man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring those ripples build a current which can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and injustice.
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The future does not belong to those who are content with today, apathetic toward common problems and their fellow man alike, timid and fearful in the face of bold projects and new ideas. Rather, it will belong to those who can blend passion, reason and courage in a personal commitment to the ideals of American society.
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High office teaches decision making, not substance. It consumes intellectual capital it does not create it. Most high officials leave office with the perceptions and insights with which they entered they learn how to make decisions but not what decisions to make.
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Each time a person stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope, and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy and daring, these ripples build a current that can sweep down the mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
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In crises the most daring course is often safest.
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There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not?
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If I should ever be captured, I want no negotiation-and if I should request a negotiation from captivity they should consider that a sign of duress.
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Whatever must happen ultimately should happen immediately.
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Some men see things as they are and say why I dream things that never were and say Why not
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Whenever men take the law into their own hands, the loser is the law. And when the law loses, freedom languishes.
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The American temptation is to believe that foreign policy is a subdivision of psychiatry.
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There are those who look at things the way they are, and ask why... I dream of things that never were, and ask why not
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Any fact that needs to be disclosed should be put out now or as quickly as possible, because otherwise ... the bleeding will not end.
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Some men see things as they are and ask, 'why' I dream things that never were and ask, 'why not'NB This quote is a paraphrase from a similar quote by G. B. Shaw.
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Laws can embody standards; governments can enforce laws--but the final task is not a task for government. It is a task for each and every one of us. Every time we turn our heads the other way when we see the law flouted--when we tolerate what we know to be wrong--when we close our eyes and ears to the corrupt because we are too busy, or too frightened--when we fail to speak up and speak out--we strike a blow against freedom and decency and justice.
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You can't make war in the Middle East without Egypt and you can't make peace without Syria.
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Only those who dare to fail greatly can ever achieve greatly.
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The statesman's duty is to bridge the gap between his nation's experience and his vision.
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I thought they'd get one of us, but Jack, after all he's been through, never worried about it ... I thought it would be me.
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