Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

"A riot is the language of the unheard."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Where do we go from here?"

"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.

"Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"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., Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream"

"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., "I Have a Dream"

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land . . . So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

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

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength in Love

"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., Strength in Love

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

"We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"We were here before the mighty words of the Declaration of Independence were etched across the pages of history. Our forebears labored without wages. They made cotton 'king'. And yet out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to thrive and develop. If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail... Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"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."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.'"
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream"

"A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love

"A riot is the language of the unheard."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Where do we go from here?"

"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.

"Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"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., Nobel Prize Acceptance Speech

"I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream"

"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., "I Have a Dream"

"I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and willingly accepts the penalty by staying in jail in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the very highest respect for the law."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"If a man hasn't discovered something he will die for, he isn't fit to live."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land . . . So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I've Been to the Mountaintop"

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

"Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength in Love

"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., Strength in Love

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

"We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"We were here before the mighty words of the Declaration of Independence were etched across the pages of history. Our forebears labored without wages. They made cotton 'king'. And yet out of a bottomless vitality, they continued to thrive and develop. If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail... Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people."
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail"

"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."
- Martin Luther King, Jr.

"When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every tenement and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old spiritual, 'Free at last, free at last. Thank God Almighty, we are free at last.'"
- Martin Luther King, Jr., "I Have a Dream"