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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes - Page 25

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I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love. I am disappointed with our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils of racism, economic

I am disappointed with America. And there can be no great disappointment where there is not great love. I am disappointed with our failure to deal positively and forthrightly with the triple evils of racism, economic exploitation, and militarism. We are presently moving down a dead-end road that can lead to national disaster. America has strayed to the far country of racism and militarism.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Country, Disappointment, Moving
"Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam". Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, April 30, 1967.

I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Cells, Wind, Creative
I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Brother, Compassion, Views
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

There comes a time when a moral man can't obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Law, Libertarian Party
Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

Whenever the early Christians entered a town the power structure got disturbed and immediately sought to convict them for being "disturbers of the peace" and "outside agitators." But they went on with the conviction that they were "a colony of heaven," and had to obey God rather than man. They were small in number but big in commitment. They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian, Peace, Commitment

Christ furnished the spirit and motivation while Gandhi furnished the method.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Motivation, Spirit, Christ
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.70, Beacon Press

As a young man with most of my life ahead of me, I decided early to give my life to something eternal and absolute. Not to these little gods that are here today and gone tomorrow. But to God who is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Yesterday, Giving
"Rediscovering Lost Values". Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Sermon at Detroit's Second Baptist Church, kinginstitute.stanford.edu. February 28, 1954.

What good is having the right to sit at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger?

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lunch, Democracy, Hamburgers

And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hurt, Men, Order
I've Been to the Mountaintop, delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee

You cannot solve the problem by turning to communism, for communism is based on an ethical relativism and a metaphysical materialism that no Christian can accept.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian, Problem, Materialism
"Paul's Letter to American Christians". Sermon delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, November 4, 1956.

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Reaching Up, Ideas
"I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr".

Justice is love correcting that which revolts against love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Justice, Revolt, Correcting
Gary Miles Chassman, Smithsonian Institution. Traveling Exhibition Service, Martin Luther King, Jr. Center for Nonviolent Social Change (2002). “In the Spirit of Martin: The Living Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr”

Truth crushed to earth will rise again.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Earth, Crushed, Kings Speech
Sermon at Temple Israel of Hollywood, delivered 26 February 1965

Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Suits, Conviction, Protest
"The trumpet of conscience".

Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the instruments of love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Moving, Discipline

Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one's whole being into the being of another.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, War, Commitment

Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the civil rights movement would not have been as successful as it has been.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Successful, Good Friend, Rights

The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles o popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian, Ideas, Suffering
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.67, Beacon Press

We in the West must bear in mind that the poor countries are poor primarily because we have exploited them through political or economic colonialism.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Country, Political, Mind
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.92, Beacon Press

We must in strength and humility meet hate with love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Humility
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.71, Beacon Press

The job of the school is to teach so well that family background is no longer an issue.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jobs, School, Issues

It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Heart, Law, May
Methodist Student Leadership Conference Address, delivered 1964, Lincoln, Nebraska

Every now and then I think about my own death, and I think about my own funeral. [...] Every now and then I ask myself, 'What is it that I would want said?' I'd like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others. I'd like for somebody to say that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kings, Thinking, Giving
"The Drum Major Instinct". Sermon at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, February 4, 1968.

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jail, Self, World
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.35, Beacon Press

Please be peaceful. We believe in law and order. We are not advocating violence, I want you to love your enemies... for what we are doing is right, what we are doing is just -- and God is with us.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Believe, Order, Law

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