Quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.

“All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“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 the law.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

“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.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“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.” -Martin Luther King Jr.

“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.

“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars... Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“Segregation is the adultery of an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.”
-Martin Luther King Jr.

“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., "Strength to Love"

“All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., 'Strength to Love,' 1963

“The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., 'Strength to Love,' 1963

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., Accepting Nobel Peace Prize, Dec. 10, 1964

“Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time; the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Mankind 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., December 11, 1964

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 16, 1963

“The church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles of popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., Letter from Birmingham Jail, April 1963

“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., Speech at Civil Rights March on Washington, August 28, 1963

“I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.” -Martin Luther King Jr., Speech in Detroit, June 23, 1963

“...And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land. So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., Speech in Memphis, April 3, 1968, the day before King was assassinated

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” -Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
-Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love, 1963

“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., Strength to Love, 1963