Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

About Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Martin Luther King, Jr. is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.
A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve. You don't have to have a college degree to serve. You don't have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

Martin Luther King Jr.

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.

Martin Luther King Jr.

One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

Martin Luther King Jr.

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.

The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

Martin Luther King Jr.

Violence never really deals with the basic evil of the situation. Violence may murder the murderer, but it doesn’t murder murder. Violence may murder the liar, but it doesn’t murder lie; it doesn’t establish truth. Violence may even murder the ...

Martin Luther King Jr.

Mother Dear, one day I'm going to turn this world upside down." --From My Brother Martin, by Christine King Farris

Martin Luther King Jr.

I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. I refuse to accept despair as the final response to the ambiguities of history. I refuse to accept the idea that the "isness" of man's present...

Martin Luther King Jr.

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

Martin Luther King Jr.

We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor.

Martin Luther King Jr.

God is able to give you the power to endure that which cannot be changed... Why be anxious? Come what may, God is able.

Martin Luther King Jr.

A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our past and present policies. ... A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth. With righteous indign...

Martin Luther King Jr.

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesi...

Martin Luther King Jr.

And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that questi...

Martin Luther King Jr.

But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. The large house in which we live demands that we transform this world-wide neighborhood into a world –...

Martin Luther King Jr.

One of the great liabilities of history is that all too many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every society has its protectors of status quo and its fraternities of the indifferent who are notorious for sleeping thr...

Martin Luther King Jr.

Only a "dry as dust" religion prompts a minister to extol the glories of Heaven while ignoring the social conditions that cause men an Earthly hell.

Martin Luther King Jr.

But the judgement of God is upon the church as never before. If today's church does not recapture the sacrificial spirit of the early church, it will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and be dismissed as an irrelevant social clu...

Martin Luther King Jr.

Author Bio

  • NameMartin Luther King, Jr.
  • DescriptionAmerican clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement
  • AliasesMLK; Martin Luther King; Michael King; Michael King, Jr.
  • BornJanuary 15, 1929
  • DiedApril 4, 1968
  • CountryUnited States Of America
  • ProfessionCleric; Political Activist; Theologian; Orator; Minister; Writer
  • AwardsNobel Peace Prize; Jawaharlal Nehru Award For International Understanding; Spingarn Medal; Presidential Medal Of Freedom; United Nations Prize In The Field Of Human Rights; Gandhi Peace Award; Pacem In Terris Award; Anisfield-Wolf Book Awards