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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.

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

All Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Death

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Legal

“The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Equality

“We must use time creatively.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Time

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Death

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Time

“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

“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

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Leadership

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Great

“Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Money

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

“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

“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

“Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one's soul.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Sympathy

“I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

“The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Education

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

War