Before I was a civil rights leader, I was a preacher of the Gospel. This was my first calling and it still remains my greatest commitment. You know, actually all that I do in civil rights I do because I consider it a part of my ministry.

I don't think of my life as a career. I do stuff. I respond to stuff. That's not a career - it's a life!

I don't think of myself as a poor deprived ghetto girl who made good. I think of myself as somebody who from an early age knew I was responsible for myself, and I had to make good.

Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change.

I want to make a dent in the universe.

Those who have failed to work toward the truth have missed the purpose of living.