Martin Luther King Quotes. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became a leader in the civil rights movement. He is best known for his famous ‘I Have a Dream’ speech and his many inspiring quotes that continue to be relevant today. His words of wisdom and courage have been shared and repeated throughout the years and still serve as a source of strength and hope for many.
Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes To Inspire Greatness
💮 “No person has the right to rain on your dreams.”
💮 “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
💮 “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
💮 “The time is always right to do right.”
💮 “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.”
💮 “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”
💮 “There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”
💮 “I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.”
💮 “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”
💮 “We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
💮 “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
💮 “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.”
💮 “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.”
💮 “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.”
💮 “No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
💮 “No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.”
💮 “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.”
💮 “There is no gain without struggle.”
💮 “It does not matter how long you live, but how well you do it.”
💮 “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.”
💮 “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
💮 “The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind.”
💮 “Hate destroys the hater.”
💮 “The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open.”
💮 “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.”
💮 “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.’”
💮 “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
💮 “I have decided to stick with love. . . . Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
💮 “It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”
💮 “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”
💮 “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”
💮 “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
💮 “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles.”
💮 “If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.”
💮 “We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
💮 “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
“Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
💮 “But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
💮 “Mother Dear, one day I’m going to turn this world upside down.”
💮 “A right delayed is a right denied.”
💮 “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.”
💮 “If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo 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.”
💮 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”
💮 “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
💮 “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 are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
💮 “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
💮 “As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.”
💮 “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”
Inspirational Quotes On Leadership & Business
💮 “A true leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
💮 “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
💮 “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.”
💮 “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
💮 “There is no gain without struggle.”
💮 “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”
💮 “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. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others.”
Martin Luther King Jr.’s Most Inspiring Motivational Quotes
💮 “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
💮 “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
💮 “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
💮 “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
💮 “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.”
💮 “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”
💮 “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
💮 “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
💮 “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
💮 “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.”
💮 “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
💮 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
💮 “Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.”
💮 “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
💮 “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
Most Inspirational Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
💮 “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Intelligence plus character: that is the goal of a true education.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability but comes through continuous struggle.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Darkness cannot drive out darkness. Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate. Only love can do that.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Courage is the power of the mind to overcome fear.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “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.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “What matters is not how long you live…but how you live.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “We must learn to live together as brothers or we will perish together as fools.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “The time is always right to do what is right.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” –MLK, Jr.
💮 “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” –MLK, Jr.
Most Powerful Martin Luther King Quotes on Freedom and Peace
💮 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.
💮 Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
💮 In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends
💮 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.
💮 Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.
💮 We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.
💮 Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.
💮 We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society.
💮 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.
💮 Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.
💮 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.
💮 If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.
💮 An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.
💮 I have decided to stick to love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
💮 Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an influential figure in the history of civil rights and social justice. His eloquent words and passionate speeches continue to inspire and motivate people around the world today. His legacy will live on forever in history, and his quotes will be remembered for generations to come.
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