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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes - Page 26

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The purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.

The purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Doors, Direct Action
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.89, Beacon Press

We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, War, Science
Strength to Love ch. 7 (1963)

They asked if our own nation wasn't using massive doses of violence to solve its problems, to bring about the changes it wanted. Their questions hit home, and I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today-my own government. For the sake of those boys, for the sake of this government, for the sake of hundreds of thousands trembling under our violence, I cannot be silent.

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

The use of violence in our struggle would be both impractical and immoral. To meet hate with retaliatory hate would do nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love; we must meet physical force with soul force. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man, but to win his friendship and understanding.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Struggle, Winning
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

With all of its false assumptions and evil methods, communism grew as a protest against the hardships of the underprivileged. Communism in theory emphasized a classless society, and a concern for social justice, though the world knows from sad experience that in practice it created new classes and a new lexicon of injustice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wisdom, Practice, Class
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

From the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire, let freedom ring. From the mighty mountains of New York, let freedom ring. From the heightening Alleghenies of Pennsylvania, let freedom ring. But not only that: Let freedom ring from every hill and molehill of Mississippi.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
New York, Freedom, July
I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Life, War, Communication
"Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967.

I said to my children, 'I'm going to work and do everything that I can do to see that you get a good education. I don't ever want you to forget that there are millions of God's children who will not and cannot get a good education, and I don't want you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will never be what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Children, Feelings, Want

Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude. That which I was not but could have been. That which I would have done but did not do. Can I find the fortitude to remember in truth,to understand, to submit, to forgive and to be free to move on in time?

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Forgiveness, Attitude, Moving

I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" - one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers.

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

In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Freedom, Inspiration, 4th Of July
I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life's difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Reality, Thinking, Triumph

There is nothing more majestic than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for their freedom and dignity.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Sacrifice, Suffering, Majestic
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, p.67, Beacon Press

The time has come for America to hear the truth about this tragic war. In international conflicts, the truth is hard to come by because most nations are deceived about themselves. Rationalizations and the incessant search for scapegoats are the psychological cataracts that blind us to our sins. But the day has passed for superficial patriotism. He who lives with untruth lives in spiritual slavery.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Spiritual, War, America
"Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam". Speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, www.informationclearinghouse.info. April 30, 1967.

Just as Socrates felt that it was necessary to create a tension in the mind so that individuals could rise from the bondage of myths and half-truths to the unfettered realm of creative analysis and objective appraisal, so must we see the need for nonviolent gadflies to create the kind of tension in society that will help men rise from the dark depths of prejudice and racism to majestic heights of understanding and brotherhood.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dark, Men, Racism
"Letter from a Birmingham Jail". www.africa.upenn.edu. April 16, 1963.

There is no sound more powerful than the marching feet of a determined people.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Powerful, Feet, People
Source: www.salon.com

I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed, without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today – my own government.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Government, Voice, Violence
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and absolute wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Matter, Majority
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.76, Beacon Press

I think that my strong determination for justice comes from the very strong, dynamic personality of my father ... I have rarely ever met a person more fearless and courageous than my father ... The thing that I admire most about my dad is his genuine Christian character. He is a man of real integrity, deeply committed to moral and ethical principles. He is conscientious in all of his undertakings ... If I had a problem I could always call Daddy.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Christian, Fathers Day, Strong

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Spiritual, Peace
Strength to Love ch. 7 (1963)

One has not only a legal but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I would agree with St. Augustine that ' an unjust law is no law at all.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Responsibility, Law, Unjust
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.60, Beacon Press

If you haven't found something worth dying for, you're not fit to live.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Dying, Fit

If you want to be important-wonderful. If you want to be recognized-wonderful. If you want to be great-wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Greatness, Important, Definitions
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.173, Beacon Press

And when this happens, when we allow freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God's children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual: Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!

Martin Luther King, Jr.
God, Spiritual, Children
Speech at Civil Rights March,Washington, D.C., 28 Aug. 1963

Violence never brings permanent peace. It solves no social problem: it merely creates new and more complicated ones.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Violence, Problem
Nobel Prize for Peace Acceptance Speech and Lecture, delivered 10 December 2009, Oslo City Hall, Oslo, Norway

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