"I know none of those distinctions of rank or condition which are so common among men. I view the soul of the poor, ignorant, and degraded, to be as precious to its possessor as that of the most accomplished and affluent. ... With me it is regarded as an eternal truth that God has made of one blood all nations. The veriest beggar is my brother, and the same grace is both indispensable and able to qualify either of us for heaven."
— Peter Parker
Source: Journal of self-examination on the missionary call, senior year at Yale; in George B. Stevens, The Life, Letters, and Journals of the Rev. and Hon. Peter Parker, M.D. (1896), p. 45