Martin Luther King Quotes

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

~ Martin Luther King

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

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for he isn't fit to live.

~ Martin Luther King

We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

~ Martin Luther King

Human Salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

~ Martin Luther King

Hatred paralyzes life love releases it. Hatred confuses life love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life love illumines it.

~ Martin Luther King

Agape is disinterested love. . . . Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people or any qualities people possess. It begins by loving others for their sakes. . . . Therefore agape makes no distinction between friend and enemy it is directed toward both.

~ Martin Luther King

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

~ Martin Luther King

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for he isn't fit to live.

~ Martin Luther King

Without love benevolence becomes egotism.

~ Martin Luther King

I want to be the white man's brother not his brother-in-law.

~ Martin Luther King

Riots are the voices of the unheard.

~ Martin Luther King

If a man is called to be a streetsweep-er 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 streetsweeper who did his job well.

~ Martin Luther King

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

The time is always right to do what is right.

~ Martin Luther King

Non-violence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history which cuts without wounding and enobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

~ Martin Luther King

If a man is called to be a streetsweep-er 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 streetsweeper who did his job well.

~ Martin Luther King

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

The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.

~ Martin Luther King

I submit that 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 law.

~ Martin Luther King

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

It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.

~ Martin Luther King

One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.

~ Martin Luther King

We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace.

~ Martin Luther King

War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.

~ Martin Luther King

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

~ Martin Luther King

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

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

~ Martin Luther King

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

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

~ Martin Luther King

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

The time is always right to do what is right.

~ Martin Luther King

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.

~ Martin Luther King

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

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

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

~ Martin Luther King

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

~ Martin Luther King

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

~ Martin Luther King

If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

~ Martin Luther King

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