Inspiring Quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. - Page 2

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"Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals"

"If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live"

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

"The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important"

"Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control"

"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"

"Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress"

"Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted"

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals"

"If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values - that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control"

"I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together"

"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"

"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"

"I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good"

"At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love"

"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness"

"Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation"

"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"

"It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it"

"It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society"

"Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love"

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend"

"Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think"

"Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one's soul"

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

"Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step"

"Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will"

"Seeing is not always believing"

"Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity"

"Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek"

"The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one"

"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"

"The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood"

"I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land"

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

"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"

"War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow"

"If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive"

"The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice"

"To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing"

"There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth"

"We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive"

"All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence"

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