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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes - Page 40

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But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation.

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

The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social contract theory of Hobbes, the "back to nature" optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, I found in the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. I came to feel that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Philosophy, Struggle, People
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Children, Men, Inspire

Whatever effects one directly, effects all indirectly.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Effects
"Trump administration celebrates Martin Luther King Jr." by Brooke Singman, www.foxnews.com.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
People, Forever, Yearning
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.18, Beacon Press

Gandhi was inevitable. If humanity is to progress, Gandhi is inescapable. He lived, thought and acted, inspired by the vision of humanity evolving toward a world of peace and harmony. We may ignore Gandhi at our own risk.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Humanity, Risk, Vision

There is a type of constructive nonviolent tension that is necessary for growth

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

The real problem is that through our scientific genius we’ve made of the world a neighborhood, but through our moral and spiritual genius we’ve failed to make of it a brotherhood.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Spiritual, Real, Brotherhood
"Rediscovering Lost Values". Sermon delivered at Detroit's Second Baptist Church, February 28, 1954.

I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love Is, Expression, World

Brutality was imprisoned in a lumious glare revealing the naked truth to the whole world

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Naked, Brutality, World

My uncertainty disappeared. Segregation is evil, and I cannot, as a minister, condone evil.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Evil, Segregation, Ministers

I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Country, War, Heart
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.109, Beacon Press

The 'tide in the affairs of men' does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: 'Too late...'

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Civilization, Climate
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.121, Beacon Press

And violence is impractical, because the old eye for an eye philosophy ends up leaving everybody blind .. It is immoral because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for everybody. Means and ends are inseparable. The means represent the ideal in the making; in the long run of history destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Running, Philosophy, War

"When I speak of love I am not speaking of some sentimental and weak response. I am not speaking of that force which is just emotional bosh. I am speaking of that force which all of the great religions have seen as the supreme unifying principle of life. Love is somehow the key that unlocks the door which leads to ultimate reality."

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Powerful, Love Life, Reality
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

A second way that oppressed people sometimes deal with oppression is to resort to physical violence and corroding hatred.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, People, Hatred
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

Each one of us has the power to make others feel better or worse. Making others feel better is much more fun than making others feel worse. Making others feel better generally makes us feel better

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fun, Feel Better, Feels

What the Negro wants - and will not stop until he gets - is absolute and unqualified freedom and equality here in this land of his birth, and not in Africa or in some imaginary state. The Negro no longer will be tolerant of anything less than his due right and heritage. He is pursuing only that which he knows is honorably his. He knows that he is right.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Land, Unqualified, Heritage
Source: www.thedailybeast.com

America must begin the struggle for democracy at home. The advocacy of free elections in Europe by American officials is hypocrisy when free elections are not held in great sections of America.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Struggle, Home, Europe

For all of us today, the battle is in our hands. The road ahead is not altogether a smooth one. There are no broad highways to lead us easily and inevitably to quick solutions. We must keep going.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Educational, Persistence, Hands
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.145, Beacon Press

Agape means recognition of the fact that all life is interrelated. All humanity is involved in a single process, and all men are brothers. To the degree that I harm my brother, no matter what he is doing to me, to that extent I am harming myself.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Wisdom, Brother, Mean
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

We know of no more crucial civil rights issue facing Congress today than the need to increase the federal minimum wage and extend its coverage.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Rights, Issues, Needs
"Now Is the Time. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. on Labor in the South: The Case for a Coalition". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., Statement on minimum wage legislation (March 18, 1966), January 1986.

There are often multiple sources for some famous statements by King; as a professional speaker and minister he used some significant phrases with only slight variation many times in his essays, books, and his speeches to different audiences.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kings, Book, Different

It is not only poverty that torments the Negro; it is the fact of poverty amid plenty. It is a misery generated by the gulf between the affluence he sees in the mass media and the deprivation he experiences in his everyday life.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Media, Everyday, Poverty
Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

We must move past indecision to action. We must find new ways to speak for peace in Vietnam and for justice throughout the developing world, a world that borders on our doors. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight.

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

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