Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
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Let the Negro march. Let him make pilgrimages to city hall. Let him go on freedom rides. And above all, make an effort to understand why he must do this. For if his frustration and despair are allowed to continue piling up, millions of Negroes will seek solace and security in black-nationalist ideologies. And this, inevitably, would lead to a frightening racial nightmare.
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The movement for equality and justice can only be a success if it has both a mass and militant character; the barriers to be overcome require both.
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America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'
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Truth is found neither in Marxism nor in traditional capitalism. Each represents a partial truth. Historically capitalism failed to see the truth in collective enterprise, and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise. Nineteenth century capitalism failed to see that life is social and Marxism failed and still fails to see that life is individual and personal. The Kingdom of God is neither the thesis of individual enterprise nor the antithesis of collective enterprise, but a synthesis which reconciles the truths of both.
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The spirit of Lincoln still lives; that spirit born of the teachings of the Nazarene, who promised mercy to the merciful, who lifted the lowly, strengthened the weak, ate with publicans, and made the captives free. In the light of this divine example, the doctrines of demagogues shiver in their chaff.
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Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody.
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Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.
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So I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord!
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The strong man is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back.
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Individuals may see the moral light and voluntarily give up their unjust posture; but, as Reinhold Niebuhr has reminded us, groups are more immoral than individuals.
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We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
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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.
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There is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.
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Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard?
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Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
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A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.
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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.
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The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.
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Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.
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Unearned suffering is redemptive.
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If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws.
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I have condemned any organizer of war, regardless of his rank or nationality.
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Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.
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The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.