I usually say I did the best I could with what I had. I have no major regrets.

The masses don't shed their blood for the benefit of a few individuals.

The secret of life is to have no fear; it's the only way to function.

Capitalism is a stupid system, a backward system.

We had no more courage than Harriet Tubman or Marcus Garvey had in their times. We just had a more vulnerable enemy.

Leaders in Africa are so corrupt that we are certain if we put dogs in uniforms and put guns on their shoulders, we'd be hard put to distinguish them.

Now, then, in order to understand white supremacy we must dismiss the fallacious notion that white people can give anybody their freedom.

A man is born free.

No man can given anybody his freedom.

We are revolutionaries.

So that the failures to pass a civil rights bill isn't because of Black Power, isn't because of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee; it's not because of the rebellions that are occurring in the major cities.

The knowledge I have now is not the knowledge I had then.

It is a call for black people in this country to unite, to recognize their heritage, to build a sense of community. It is a call for black people to define their own goals, to lead their own organizations.

I usually say I did the best I could with what I had. I have no major regrets.

Our grandfathers had to run, run, run. My generation's out of breath. We ain't running no more.

I knew that I could vote and that that wasn't a privilege; it was my right. Every time I tried I was shot, killed or jailed, beaten or economically deprived.

Seems to me that the institutions that function in this country are clearly racist, and that they're built upon racism.

One of the tragedies of the struggle against racism is that up to now there has been no national organization which could speak to the growing militancy of young black people in the urban ghetto.

The first need of a free people is to define their own terms.

We were aware of the fact that death walks hand in hand with struggle.

There is a higher law than the law of government. That's the law of conscience.

Integration is a man's ability to want to move in there by himself. If someone wants to live in a white neighborhood and he is black, that is his choice. It should be his rights. It is not because white people will not allow him.

I maintain that every civil rights bill in this country was passed for white people, not for black people.

An organization which claims to be working for the needs of a community - as SNCC does - must work to provide that community with a position of strength from which to make its voice heard. This is the significance of black power beyond the slogan.

Black power can be clearly defined for those who do not attach the fears of white America to their questions about it.

There has been only a civil rights movement, whose tone of voice was adapted to an audience of liberal whites.

Before a group can enter the open society, it must first close ranks.

I also know that while I am black I am a human being, and therefore I have the right to go into any public place. White people didn't know that.Every time I tried to go into a place they stopped me.

Now we maintain that we cannot be afford to be concerned about 6 percent of the children in this country, black children, who you allow to come into white schools. We have 94 percent who still live in shacks. We are going to be concerned about those 94 percent.

The philosophers Camus and Sartre raise the question whether or not a man can condemn himself.

I also know that while I am black I am a human being, and therefore I have the right to go into any public place. White people didn't know that. Every time I tried to go into a place they stopped me.

There has been only a civil rights movement whose tone of voice was adapted to an audience of liberal whites.

The secret of life is to have no fear; It's the only way to function.

The role of an orchestra in the 21st century isn't just playing, it's about developing future audiences and performers.

I've learned it's important not to limit yourself. You can do whatever you really love to do, no matter what it is.

Case studies of failure should be made a part of the vocabulary of every engineer so that he or she can recall or recite them when something in a new design or design process is suggestive of what went wrong in the case study.

Teamwork makes the dream work, but a vision becomes a nightmare when the leader has a big dream and a bad team.

The more you multitask, the less deliberative you become; the less able to think and reason out a problem.

It's an exhilarating play, and you come off tired, but thrilled.

A musical, like most religions, provides the audience or followers with a sense of belonging. Religious services, on the other hand, with their staged performances, invigorating songs, popular wisdom and shared experience, are almost a form of community theater.

If President Obama really means what he has said repeatedly about supporting the aspirations of the Egyptian people, then he will have to recognize that in Egypt today, as in America in 1963, that can mean opposing government policy.

For us tall people, the whole key is that your hips and your knees should form a right angle when you sit down. That's where backs and hips get to be problems for big guys.

All the passions make us commit faults; love makes us commit the most ridiculous ones.

I feel like Ive dreamed half of my life that hasnt happened yet so a lot of times Im going along and I do stuff and I know that Ive done it. I have deja vus more than I have regular experiences. If half of your day is a deja vu then you start to wonder What is real and what isnt

I have feelings too. I am still human. All I want is to be loved, for myself and for my talent.

What I can say is that all my characters are searching for their souls, because they are my mirrors. I'm someone who is constantly trying to understand my place in the world, and literature is the best way that I found in order to see myself.

My favorite types of movies to watch as a viewer are thrillers - I really have a soft spot for them, I love them. Especially psychological thrillers.

The closing years of life are like the end of a masquerade party, when the masks are dropped.

I never forget a face, but in your case I'll be glad to make an exception.