Martin Luther King Quotes

Civil Rights Leader...

Find your favorite Martin Luther King quotes.

Martin Luther King Jr (MLK Jr) did more for the civil rights movement in the United States than probably any other person in history.

Be inspired by his words!

I am amazed by the number of Martin Luther King quotes I was able to find on a wide variety of topics.

 

If you are a big Martin Luther King fan, you may want listen and hear the famous "I Have a Dream" speech as well.

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Acceptance

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.

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Character

“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.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Courage

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Darkness

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness;
only light can do that.
Hate cannot drive out hate;
only love can do that.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Death

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.

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Disappointment

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Discrimination

There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have stake in their society, protect that society...
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Dream

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I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up, live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Education

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.

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Equality

“I look to the day
when people will not be judged by the color of the skin,
But by the content of their character.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man's skin determines.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Now, I say to you today my friends, even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I want to be the white man's brother, not his brother-in-law.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Evil

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Man's inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.

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Faith

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Fear

Normal fear protects us;abnormal fear paralyzes us.
Normal fear motivates us to improve our individual and collective welfare;
abnormal fear constantly poisons and distorts our inner lives.
Our problem is not to be rid of fear but, rather to harness and master it."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

You have more to fear from those who think they know you,
Than from those who know they don't.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Forgiveness

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act: it is an attitude.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Freedom

The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of that old Negro spiritual, 'Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!'
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Friends

We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Goodness

When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Greatness

Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Happiness

Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Harmony

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not yet learned the simple art of living together as brothers.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Hate

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

~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Hope

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing. If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.The Trumpet of Conscience.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Justice

A right delayed is a right denied.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Justice denied anywhere diminishes justice everywhere.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Leadership

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Life

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Love

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Love is the only cement that can hold this broken community together. When I am commanded to love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs of my brothers.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

He who is devoid of the power to forgive, is devoid of the power to love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.

The heart of the giver makes the gift dear and precious.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

There is no fear in love; but perfect love casteth out fear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Lying

A lie cannot live.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Minority

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Nonviolence

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Opportunity

Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, 'Here is an opportunity for me to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary'.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Oppression

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Peace

One day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Persistence

In this Revolution no plans have been written for retreat.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Philanthropy

Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Power

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.

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Progress

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Right

“The time is always right to do what is right.”
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' But conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but because conscience tells one it is right.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Riots

Riots are the voices of the unheard.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Segregation

Segregation is the adultery of an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Selfish

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Silence

To be silent is to acknowledge, to positively reinforce.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Man's inhumanity to man is not only perpetrated by the vitriolic actions of those who are bad. It is also perpetrated by the vitiating inaction of those who are good.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Understanding

Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Vocation

Whatever career you may choose for yourself - doctor, lawyer, teacher - let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Become a dedicated fighter for civil rights.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Make it a central part of your life.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

It will make you a better doctor, a better lawyer, a better teacher.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

It will enrich your spirit as nothing else possibly can. It will give you that rare sense of nobility that can only spring from love and selflessly helping your fellow man.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Make a career of humanity.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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War

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual death.
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.

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