Coretta Scott King Quotes

I'm more determined than ever that my husband's dream will become a reality.

Mama and Daddy King represent the best in manhood and womanhood, the best in a marriage, the kind of people we are trying to become.

There is a Mrs. King. There is also Coretta. How one became detached from the other remains a mystery to me. Most people who have followed my career from afar, or even given me a second thought, know me as Mrs. King: the wife of, the widow of, the mother of, the leader of. Makes me sound like the attachments that come with my vacuum cleaner. In one sense, I don't mind that at all. I'm proud to have been a wife, a single parent, and a leader. But I am more than a label. I am also Coretta. Isn't it time you know the integrated, holistic woman: one spirit, one soul, one destiny? In reading this memoir, I hope somehow you see Coretta.

The more visible signs of protest are gone, but I think there is a realization that the tactics of the late sixties are not sufficient to meet the challenges of the seventies.

Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul.

I must remind you that starving a child is violence. Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Ignoring medical need is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence.

We must all begin to question the experts. They have not really been right. No abundance of material goods can compensate for the death of individuality and personal creativity.

I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called education people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from fiction.

It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.

Because his task was not finished, I felt that I must re-dedicate myself to the completion of his work.

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members.

Segregation was wrong when it was forced by white people, and I believe it is still wrong when it is requested by black people.

On April 3, 1968, just before he was killed, Martin delivered his last public address. In it he spoke of the visit he and I made to Israel. Moreover, he spoke to us about his vision of the Promised Land, a land of justice and equality, brotherhood and peace. Martin dedicated his life to the goals of peace and unity among all peoples, and perhaps nowhere in the world is there a greater appreciation of the desirability and necessity of peace than in Israel.

The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members ... a heart of grace and a soul generated by love.

I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.