"I don't think I'm a celebrity. I'm just a man who had the chance to do some good."

"I believe in the American way, and I believe in American ideals, and I believe in the American people."

"The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall."

"The way I figured it, I was a colored boy. I was a Negro. I was black. I was a lot of things. But I was also an American. And I had the right to be treated like an American."

"I don't think there's a person in this country who could look at a black boy and a white boy and say that one is going to be more successful than the other. I'd be willing to bet on the black boy."