Martin Luther on Quicksand

“This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilising drug of gradualism.  Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.  Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.  Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children.  Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood.  Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God's children.”

“Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.  We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.  Now is the time to make real the promise of democracy and transform our pending national elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.  Now is the time to lift our national policy from the quicksand of racial injustice to the solid rock of human dignity.”