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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes about Past

All Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes 4th Of July Abuse Acceptance Adversity Age Aids Anger Apathy Attitude Being Strong Belief Betrayal Black History Brotherhood Business Cancer Challenges Change Character Charity Children Choices Christ Christianity Church Civil Rights Coffee College Commitment Communism Community Compassion Conflict Country Courage Creativity Crime Criticism Culture Darkness Death Death Penalty Defeat Democracy Destiny Determination Dignity Disappointment Discipline Diversity Drinking Dying Earth Education Effort Encouragement Energy Equality Evil Faith Fear Feelings Fighting Forgiveness Freedom Friendship Frustration Fun Generosity Giving Giving Up God Goodness Greatness Growth Hard Work Hate Hatred Heart Heaven Helping Others History Home Hope Human Nature Humanity Humility Hurt Ignorance Independence Injustice Inspiration Inspirational Inspiring Integrity Jazz Jesus Judging Justice Knowledge Leadership Learning Leaving Legacy Liars Liberty Life Love Love And Hate Love Life Loyalty Lying Madness Mankind Marriage Materialism Military Money Morality Morning Motivation Motivational Mountain Moving Forward Nonviolence Opportunity Oppression Optimism Overcoming Pain Passion Past quotes Patriotism Peace Persistence Personality Perspective Philosophy Police Politics Positive Poverty Power Praise Prejudice Procrastination Progress Protest Purpose Quality Racism Rage Reality Respect Responsibility Revenge Revolution Risk Running Sacrifice Sad Salvation School Science Segregation Self Esteem Silence Sin Slavery Socialism Society Son Soul Spirituality Strength Struggle Study Success Suffering Surrender Survival Survivor Teaching Time Today Tragedy Truth Uncertainty Unconditional Love Understanding Unity Universe Victory Violence Vision Volunteer Voting Waiting Wall War Water Weakness Welfare Winning Wisdom Work Worship Writing Yoga
The failures of the past must not be an excuse for the inaction of the present and the future.

The failures of the past must not be an excuse for the inaction of the present and the future.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Past, Civil Rights, Excuse

Even when the polls are open to all, Negroes have shown themselves too slow to exercise their voting privileges. There must be a concerted effort on the part of Negro leaders to arouse their people from their apathetic indifference.... In the past, apathy was a moral failure. Today, it is a form of moral and political suicide.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Suicide, Exercise, Past
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

[W]e are the heirs of a past of rope, fire, and murder. I for one am not ashamed of this past. My shame is for those who became so inhuman that they could inflict this torture upon us.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Past, Fire, Black History

The great military leaders of the past have gone, their empires have crumbled and burned to ashes. But the empire of Jesus, built solidly and majestically on the foundation of love, is still growing.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus, Military, Past
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.54, Beacon Press

A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Past, America, Justice
"Where Do We Go from Here : Chaos or Community?". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., p. 109, 1967.

Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who's Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live - men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization - because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Children, Humble, Past
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.116, Beacon Press

Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten. A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most indispensable element of greatness — justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Country, Determination, Past

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