April 3, 1968

Today I had a meeting at the Mason Temple, and while we waited for the folks we were meeting with, we stood in the room where Dr. Martin Luther King gave his final, "I Have Been to the Mountaintop" speech. It was awe-inspiring. I was just standing there, staring up at the pulpit where he stood, foreshadowing his own death and surrounded by thousands of people whose lives he had changed forever. And all these people who work in the offices there, they're all so oblivious to it after all this time. But I thought it was amazing to be standing in that very spot.

"Well, I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy, tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."