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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes - Page 24

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You see, my friends...you begin to ask the questions, 'Who owns the oil?' You begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the iron ore?' You begin to ask the question, 'Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world

You see, my friends...you begin to ask the questions, 'Who owns the oil?' You begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the iron ore?' You begin to ask the question, 'Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water?'

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Two, Iron, Oil

Communism will never be defeated by atomic bombs. Our greatest defense against Communism is to take offensive action on behalf of justice and righteousness. We must seek to remove conditions of poverty, injustice, and racial discrimination.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Justice, Defense, Bombs

I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus' thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus, Hate, Thinking
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King, Jr., for Students”, p.24, Beacon Press

Good and just society is neither the thesis of capitalism nor the antithesis of communism, but a socially conscious democracy which reconciles the truths of individualism and collectivism.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Democracy, Individualism, Communism
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?”, p.216, Beacon Press

Our goal is to create a beloved community," said Dr. King, "and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kings, Beloved Community, Goal

I have come to see more and more that one of the most decisive steps that the Negro can take is that little walk to the voting booth. That is an important step. We've got to gain the ballot, and through that gain, political power.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Political, Voting, Important

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law . . That would lead to anarchy.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Law, Anarchy, Defying
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.61, Beacon Press

Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Compassionate, Nations, Great Nations
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.86, Beacon Press

America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'

Martin Luther King, Jr.
America, People, I Have A Dream Speech
I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Men, Squares
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.92, Beacon Press

A piece of freedom is no longer enough for human beings...unlike bread, a slice of liberty does not finish hunger. Freedom is like life. It cannot be had in installments. Freedom is indivisible--we have it all, or we are not free.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Liberty, Doe, Pieces

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy... In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Stars, Kings, Hate
"Where do we go from here: Chaos or community?". Book by Martin Luther King Jr., 1967.

We are challenged to develop a world perspective. No individual can live alone, no nation can live alone, and anyone who feels that he can live alone is sleeping through a revolution. The world in which we live is geographically one.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sleep, Perspective, Environmental

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Character, Justice
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the great problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Bridges, Suffering, Progress
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.19, Beacon Press

Every man [human being] is an heir to a legacy of dignity and worth

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Legacy, Heirs

Human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be co-workers with God and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
People, Effort, Progress
"The Other America". Speech at Grosse Pointe High School, www.gphistorical.org. March 14, 1968.

One day the South will know that when these disinherited children of God sat down at lunch counters, they were in reality standing up for what is best in the American dream and for the most sacred values in our Judaeo-Christian heritage, thereby bringing our nation back to those great wells of democracy which were dug deep by the founding fathers in their formulation of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian, Dream, Children
"Why we can't wait".

To dislocate the functioning of a city without destroying it can be more effective than a riot because it can be longer-lasting, costly to the society but not wantonly destructive, moreover, it is more difficult for Government to quell it by superior force.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Government, Cities, Destroying

He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love, Forgiveness, Wise
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.64, Beacon Press

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly I have never yet engaged in a direct action movement that was 'well timed,' according to the timetable of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word 'Wait!' It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This 'wait' has almost always meant 'never.' We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that 'justice too long delayed is justice denied.'

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Years, Painful Experiences, Direct Action
Martin Luther King Jr.’s ‘Letter From Birmingham Jail’, www.theatlantic.com. April 16, 1963.

We can no longer afford to worship the God of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hate. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path of hate. Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Life, Hate, Ocean
"The Quest for Peace and Justice". Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Nobel Lecture in Oslo, Norway, www.nobelprize.org. December 11, 1964.

This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, War, Home
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

The church must be reminded that it is not the master, or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian, Church, States
1963 Strength to Love.

It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Color, America, People
I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

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