Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

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.

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

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

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.

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

Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.

Let's build bridges, not walls.

The time is always right to do what is right.

If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.

Our lives begin to end the day we remain silent about things that matter.

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.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

It's not the violence of the few that scares me, it's the silence of the many

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

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.

Don't hate, it's too big a burden to bear.

Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.

Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

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

Life's most persistent and urgent question is: What are you doing for others?

I agree with Dante, that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal.

I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the world. This is the end (purpose) of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.

The richer we have become materially, the poorer we become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.

Quietly endure, silently suffer and patiently wait.

Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase.

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

I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

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

Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people.

the time is always right to do the right thing

I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.

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

The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

I admire the good samaritan, but I don't want to be one.

I don't want to spend my life picking up people by the side of the road after they have been beaten up and robbed.I want to change the Jericho road, so that everybody has an opportunity for a job, education, security, health.

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.

May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership.

.. Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.

The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today.

We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there "is" such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and postive action.

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

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar.

It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved. We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.

Unconditional love will have the final word in reality.

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.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

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.

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

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.

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

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