I Have a Dream: Religion Quotes

How we cite our quotes: (Paragraph.Sentence)

Quote #4

This is our hope. This is the faith that I go back to the South with. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. (18.1-3)

"I Have a Dream" uses a lot of natural imagery to create its religious tone. Whether it's a mountain of despair, a mighty stream, a valley of despair…you get it. When MLK delivered these lines, the audience cheered a bunch of times. In the words of Han Solo, these lines were visions of grandeur.

Quote #5

We will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: "Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!" (21.1)

Religious freedom is a typical American value. Here, King talks about religious unity, an innovation on the original concept. This is a part of the speech that universalizes, rather than speaking just to African Americans.