And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality. We can never be satisfied as long as our bodies, heavy with the fatigue of travel, cannot gain lodging in the motels of the highways and the hotels of the cities. We can never be satisfied as long as our children are stripped of their selfhood and robbed of their dignity by signs stating “For Whites Only. ” We cannot be satisfied as long as the Negros basic mobility is from a smaller ghetto to a larger one. We can never be satisfied as long as a Negro in Mississippi cannot vote and a Negro in New York believes he has nothing for which to vote. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.
在我们行动时，我们必须保证永远向前。我们决不能后退。有些人在问献身民权事业的人：“你们什么时候才满意呢?”只要黑人还在遭受令人极度恐怖的警察暴力的迫害，我们就永远不会满意。只要我们因旅途劳累而极度困倦的肉体在公路边的汽车旅馆和城市的旅馆中找不到投宿之处，我们就永远不会满意。只要我们的孩子被那些标明“只接待白人”的招牌剥夺了他们的人格和尊严，我们就永远不会满意。只要黑人的基本流动性只限于从一个较小的黑人区到一个较大的黑人区，我们就永远不会满意。只要密西西比州的黑人不能选举，纽约州的黑人认为选举毫无意义，我们就永远不会满意。不，不，我们不满意，而且永远不会满意，直至公平如大水滚滚，公义如江河滔滔之时。