(Dec 10, 1964) "I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept the idea that the 'is Ness' of man's present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal 'ought Ness' that forever confronts him. I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life unable to influence the unfolding of events which surround him. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality."
"I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of a thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger that evil triumphant."