“The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”

“The ultimate tragedy of Birmingham was not the brutality of the bad people, but the silence of the good people.”

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

“We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.”

“Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.”

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge,aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”