Martin luther king jr quotes

Martin luther king jr quotes

A riot is at bottom the language of the unheard.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

I believe that wounded justice, lying prostrate on the blood-flowing streets of our nations, can be lifted from this dust of shame to reign supreme among the children of men.

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 have decided to stick with love…hate is too great a burden to bear.

I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality.

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.

In the long run of history, destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

It may be true that morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. It maybe true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless.

Let no man pull you so low to hate him.

Let us rise up tonight with greater readiness. Let us stand with a greater determination. And let us move on in these powerful days, these days of challenge to make America what it ought to be. We have an opportunity to make America a better nation.

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

Men, for years now, have been talking about war and peace. But now, no longer can they just talk about it. It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it’s nonviolence or nonexistence.

Nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation.

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

Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.

Sooner or later all the people of the world will have to discover a way to live together in peace, and thereby transform this pending cosmic elegy into a creative psalm of brotherhood.

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

The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.

The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.

The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.

The guardians of the status quo are always on hand with their oxygen tents to keep the old order alive.

The time is always ripe to do right.

The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.

Time is neutral, it can be used either constructively or destructively.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.

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

We have come a long, long way, but we have a long, long way to go.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters, and righteousness like a mighty stream.

When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds and our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, we will know that we are living in the creative turmoil of a genuine civilization struggling to be born.

Whenever you take a stand for truth and justice, you are liable to scorn.

With this faith, we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope.