Political Quotes

“I was truly saddened this morning when I learned of the death of Coretta Scott King. My experience with the Kings goes back to 1960 as a freshman student of North Central College, wide-eyed from the country, not really knowing all of the new social issues that were before us. But yet Dr. Martin Luther King came to that little town, came to that college accompanied by his wife. It made a great impression on a college freshman. The word that comes to my mind as I think about this great woman is ``devotion": devotion to her husband, devotion to her family, and devotion to the cause of civil rights. Standing side by side with her husband, Dr. Martin Luther King, she helped bring America to an understanding that ``all men are created equal.'' In my first year as Speaker, we had a Congressional Gold Medal award ceremony honoring the Little Rock Nine. It took place just a few feet from here in the rotunda of this Capitol building. Coretta Scott King was there. As I gazed across the room, I saw her stoic and yet gentle presence. Stoic, yet gentle, qualities that reminded me also of her husband and the struggles he and his wife had to overcome so that we as a Nation could overcome our shortcomings and our prejudices. Even after the hate-inspired death of her husband, she called for love and understanding and found meaning and purpose in the continuing of her husband's work. It is not surprising that she did so, because it was her work too.…”