I will not deny that there are men in the district better qualified than I to go to Congress, but, gentlemen, these men are not in the race. - Robert A. Caro

determining the essence of different points of view (what Lyndon Johnson called “listening”),

I never conceived of my biographies as merely telling the lives of famous men but rather as a means of illuminating their times and the great forces that shaped their times — particularly political power, since in a democracy political power has so great a role in shaping the lives of the citizens of that democracy.

Freedom is never given to anybody, for the oppressor has you in domination because he plans to keep you there.” And he went beyond Douglass to espouse a doctrine of passive, non-violent resistance. “Hate begets hate, violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness,” King said. “Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding.… This is a nonviolent protest. We are depending on moral and spiritual forces.