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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.

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Great

All Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Knowledge

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Death

“At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Work

“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, Jr.

Equality

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Time

“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

“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

“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

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Freedom

“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

“Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Society

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

“We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Men

“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

“I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

History

“We must use time creatively.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Time

“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