Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr Quotes

We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights.

I've decided to stick with love.

The sooner our society admits that the Negro Revolution is no momentary outburst soon to subside into placid passivity, the easier the future will be for us all.

Make no mistake about those who call themselves anti Zionist are anti Semitic.

Too often an institution serves to bless the majority opinion. Today when too many move to the rhythmic beat of the status quo, whoever would be a Christian must be a nonconformist.

We as Christians have a mandate to be nonconformists.

The poor never get the job done they are sleepy.

And see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky.

Mother Dear, one day I'm going to turn this world upside down." --From My Brother Martin, by Christine King Farris

[nonviolence] seeks to secure moral ends through moral means.

Lord help me to see M. L. King as M. L. King in his true perspective.

In Christ there is no East nor West.

We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flaunt the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule.

Is your heart right? If your heart isn't right, fix it up today.

It all boils down to the fact that we must never allow ourselves to become satisfied with unattained goals. We must always maintain a kind of divine discontent.

When I am commanded to love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs of my brothers.

We can't slow up because of our love for democracy and our love for America. Someone should tell Faulkner that the vast majority of the people on this globe are colored.

I have a dream... I have a dream today... And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.

Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?

I" cannot reach fulfillment without "thou." The self cannot be self without other selves. Self-concern without other-concern is like a tributary that has no outward flow to the ocean.

We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. So we decided to go through a process of self-purification.

Jesus recognized that love is greater than like.

Worship is as natural to the human family as the sing of the sun is to the cosmic order.

Some things are right, whether nobody sees you doing them or not.

I think that we've got to come to see this. The Negro is an American.

I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic.

Capitalism started out with a noble and high motive, but like most human systems it fell victim to the very thing it was revolting against.

I never cease to wonder at the amazing presumption of much of white society, assuming that they have the right to bargain with the Negro for his freedom.

I've always tried to be what I call militantly nonviolent. I don't believe that anyone could seriously accuse me of not being totally committed to the breakdown of segregation.

We can all get more together than we can apart. And this is the way we gain power. Power is the ability to achieve purpose, power is the ability to effect change, and we need power.

Nothing worthwhile is gained without sacrifice.

All labor has dignity.

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

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

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

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

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

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 live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

the time is always right to do the right thing

Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.

If you are someone who dislikes, condemns and rejects new ideas, you aren’t fit to lead.

You can’t shower happiness on others without getting few drops back on yourself.

You can’t afford to limit your joy. It has been proven several times that angry people are never happy people.

Anyone who wants to prevent you from making other people happy is an enemy. If you are stopping yourself from making others happy, you are your own enemy.

You put your own joy in prison if you work hard to make other people’s happiness suffocate.

Do what you can with all love and passion irrespective of whether it pays you well or not. Joy in the result lives longer than the joy in the reward.

The essence of one life is empowering another life, and so your passion has to be linked to the liberation of other people’s happiness.

Hatred is a burden that can hunt you day by day, robbing you off your personal joy in broad day light.

Haters can never rejoice especially when their enemy wins. The moment you can’t be happy when someone wins, watch yourself. That habit is not good for you.