Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

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The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

Martin Luther King (Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Stockholm, 1964)

I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.

Martin Luther King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression.

Martin Luther King (Speech at Holt Street Bapist church, 1955)

The tough mind is sharp and penetrating, breaking through the crust of legends and myths and sifting the true from the false.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Martin Luther King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right temporarily defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.

Martin Luther King (Nobel Prize acceptance speech in Stockholm, 1964)

Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.

Martin Luther King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

If we assume that mankind has a right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war and destruction. In our day of space vehicles and guided ballistic missiles, the choice is either nonviolence or nonexistence.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

Now the great temptation of life and the great tragedy of life is that so often we allow the without of our lives to absorb the within of our lives. The great tragedy of life is that too often we allow the means by which we live to outdistance the ends for which we live.

Martin Luther King (Sermon - Keep Moving From This Mountain, 1965)

We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood.

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: - "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal."

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. Again and again we must rise to the majestic heights of meeting physical force with soul force.

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. But there is something that I must say to my people who stand on the warm threshold which leads into the palace of justice. In the process of gaining our rightful place we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Martin Luther King (I Have a Dream - Speech, 1963)

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.

Martin Luther King (Where do We Go from Here, 1967)

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

Martin Luther King

I say to you that our goal is freedom, and I believe we are going to get there because however much she strays away from it, the goal of America is freedom.

Martin Luther King (Speech - Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution, 1968)

Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.

Martin Luther King

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. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man.

Martin Luther King (Speech in Memphis, the day before he was assasinated, 1968)

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.

Martin Luther King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

I have a dream tonight. One day my little daughter andmy two sons will grow up in a world not conscious of the color of their skin but only conscious of the fact that they are members of the human race.

Martin Luther King (Speech in Rocky Mount, 1962)

The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.

Martin Luther King (Strength to Love, 1963)

Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

Martin Luther King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law.

Martin Luther King (Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963)

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Biography

Born: January 15, 1929
Died: April 4, 1968

Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman and prominent leader in African-American Civil Right Movement. He is undoubtedly best known for his "I Have a Dream" speech in Washington.

Notable Works

Strength to Love (1963)
Why We Can't Wait (1964)
Where Do We Go from Here (1967)
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