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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes - Page 6

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If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven

If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Life, Motivational

There is within human nature an amazing potential for goodness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Human Nature, Goodness, Humans
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2007). “Dream: The Words and Inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr”, p.40, Blue Mountain Arts, Inc.

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Refuse, Dies
Address on Courage, at Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama, March 8, 1965.

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Inspiring, Leadership
An address at the Episcopal National Cathedral, Washington D.C, March 31, 1968.

We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Power Of Love, Force
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, p.97, Beacon Press

We must rapidly begin the shift from a "thing-oriented" society to a "person-oriented" society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspiring, Rights, Racism
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Justice For All, People, Justice
Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Change, Uplifting, Spiritual
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Fall, Independence, Republic
Speech at Civil Rights March,Washington, D.C., 28 Aug. 1963

The Curse of poverty has no justification in our age...The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Age, Poverty, Curse

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspiring, Moving On, Dream
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “The trumpet of conscience”, Harpercollins

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Motivational, Positive

He (Jesus) knew that the old eye-for-eye philosophy would leave everyone blind. He did not seek to overcome evil with evil. He overcame evil with good. Although crucified by hate, he responded with aggressive love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus, Philosophy, Hate
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Violence, Power Of Love
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, p.97, Beacon Press

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, Kings, Struggle
"Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

If our economic system is to survive, there has to be a better distribution of wealth ... we can't have a system where some people live in superfluous, inordinate wealth, while others live in abject deadening poverty.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
People, Distribution Of Wealth, Poverty

I feel that non-violence is really the only way that we can follow because violence is just so self-defeating. A riot ends up creating many more problems for the negro community than it solved. We can through violence burn down a building, but you can't establish justice. You can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder through violence. You can murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. And what we're trying to get rid of is hate, injustice, and all of these other things that continue the long night of man's inhumanity to man.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Night, Men

True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

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

I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Motivational, Dream
Speech at Civil Rights March in Washington, 28 Aug. 1963, in New York Times 29 Aug. 1963, p. 21

One of the great tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Men, Practice, Bridges
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.34, Beacon Press

When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Dark, Power, Night
"Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967.

Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Peace, War

There is nothing new about poverty. What is new, however, is that we have the resources to get rid of it.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Poverty, Resources, Nothing New
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.86, Beacon Press

We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Life, Love Is, Men
"Loving Your Enemies". Delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, www.huffingtonpost.com. November 17, 1957.

Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love, Justice, Demand
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.200, Beacon Press

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