Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
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The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven.
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All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
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I'll tell you, I've seen the lightning flash. I've heard the thunder roll. I felt sin-breakers dashing, trying to conquer my soul. But I heard the voice of Jesus saying still to fight on.
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It is always the right time to do the right thing.
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No man (sic) has learned to live until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. Length without breadth is like a self-contained tributary having no outward flow to the ocean. Stagnant, still and stale, it lacks both life and freshness. In order to live creatively and meaningfully, our self-concern must be wedded to other concerns.
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Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
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Violence is not only impractical but immoral.
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Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.
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The words 'I will forgive you, but I'll never forget what you've done' never explain the real nature of forgiveness.
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Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.
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Our age is one of guided missiles and unguided men.
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There are some things concerning which we must always be maladjusted if we are to be people of good will. We must never adjust ourselves to racial segregation. We must never adjust ourselves to religious bigotry. We must never adjust ourselves to economic conditions that take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few.
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We must stand up and say, "I'm black and I'm beautiful," and this self-affirmation is the black man's need, made compelling by the white man's crimes against him.
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We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters.
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I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.
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As television beamed the image of this extraordinary gathering across the border oceans, everyone who believed in man's capacity to better himself had a moment of inspiration and confidence in the future of the human race.
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There is nothing in all the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth going to jail for. I would rather be a free pauper than a rich slave. I would rather die in abject poverty with my convictions than live in inordinate riches with the lack of self respect.
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Some things are right, whether nobody sees you doing them or not.
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Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralyzing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism.
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We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountaintop. And I don't mind. 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 mountaintop. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land.
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Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.
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Many people in Harlem never go out of Harlem. I mean they'd never even been downtown. And you can see how this bitterness can accumulate. Here you see people crowded and hovered up in ghettos and slums with no hope.They see no way out.
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Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
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My uncertainty disappeared. Segregation is evil, and I cannot, as a minister, condone evil.