Quotes of Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister and probably the most important figure of the 1950s Civil Rights Movement. He was assassinated in 1968 as he was instrumental in outlawing the African-American segregation from the whites.

He was not only an activist but also received the Nobel Peace Prize.

quotes Of martin luther king jr. about hatred

Martin Luther King Jr. was brought up in the American south and had to face racial discrimination. The discrimination and violence towards the blacks in America was greatly prevalent in the south. Since he was not able to even eat anywhere he liked, because of the color of his skin; he understood the evil lay in hatred.

Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
  1. “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

2. “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

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

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

4. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

5. “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

quotes of martin luther king jr. about love

He was the president of Southern Christian Leadership conference, which employed the revolt techniques of Gandhi’s non-violence. He initiated political movements to give Negroes the right to vote and live a life of dignity as human beings.

  1. “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

2. “Be The Peace You Wish To See In The World!”– Martin Luther King Jr.

3. “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

4. “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.

5. “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.

Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.

6. “Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

7. “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

quotes of martin luther king jr. about justice

He was a warrior of justice as the American white population had subjected the African-American community to grave injustice even following the abolition of slavery. He composed “Letter from a Birmingham Jail” which was a political manifesto against racism.

  1. “The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die”– Martin Luther King Jr.
Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.

2. “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.


3. “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

4. “Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

5. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

7. “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.

8. “There is no gain without struggle.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

9. “Until justice rolls down like water and righteousness like a mighty stream.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

10. “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

11. “Whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can’t ride your back unless it is bent”– Martin Luther King Jr.

12. “A right delayed is a right denied.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.

13. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

14. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

15. “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.

quotes of martin luther king jr. about revolution and change

He was the youngest man to receive the Nobel Peace Prize, so naturally he had some revolutionary ideas in response to deeply entrenched racism. He understood and anticipated the resistance he would face in his political struggle to attain the basic human rights for his negro brothers. He rightly predicted it would not come about without systematic revolution.

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
  1. “We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”– Martin Luther King Jr.
I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.

2. “I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

3. “For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

4. “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.

5. “One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

We are not makers of history. We are made by history.

6. “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

7. “We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

8. “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

9. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

10. “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.

11. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

12. “The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

13. “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

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

15. “So 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.

16. “We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

quotes of martin luther king Jr. about life and education

He donated the fifty thousand dollars prize he had received with his Nobel Peace Prize to the cause of the Civil Rights Movement. Although he premised his philosophy upon religion but he understood the immense importance of empathy. He also suggested that to end racism, people have to be educated scientifically on the merits of man.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
  1. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

2. “In some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

3. “No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

4. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

5. “There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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

6. “We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

7. “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

8. “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

9. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”– Martin Luther King Jr.

10. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

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.

11. “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.”– Martin Luther King Jr.

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

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

13. “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”– Martin Luther King Jr.