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Martin Luther King, Jr.

64 quotes

Martin Luther King Jr. (1929–1968) was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible leader of the Civil Rights Movement. His philosophy of nonviolent resistance and his extraordinary gift for oratory — exemplified by his "I Have a Dream" speech — changed the course of American history and earned him the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.

“War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

War

All Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“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, Jr.

Love

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

History

“A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Death

“The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Art

“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Great

“I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go 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.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

God

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Men

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Change

“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope

“Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life

“It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Society

“If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Death

“Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Legal

“Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Peace

“War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

War

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Respect

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Forgiveness