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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 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

All Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

“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

“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Faith

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Good

“There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life

“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

“Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Life

“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

“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hope

“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

“The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Men

“An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Respect

“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

“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, Jr.

Men

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

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

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Men

“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love

“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

“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

“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