Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

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

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.

May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership… Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.

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 SILENCE of the good people is more DANGEROUS than the BRUTALITY of the bad people

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 may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.

It’s not the violence of the few that scares me, it’s the silence of the many

It is always the right time to do the right thing.

Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.

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

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.

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

The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.

Let’s build bridges, not walls.

If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.

Perhaps the worst sin in life is knowing right and not doing it.

To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.

I agree with Dante, that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who in a period of moral crisis maintain their neutrality. There comes a time when silence becomes betrayal.

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

Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people.

The richer we have become materially, the poorer we become morally and spiritually. We have learned to fly in the air like birds and swim in the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothers.