362 quotes
We must keep moving. If you can't fly, run; if you can't run, walk; if you can't walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.
Keep Moving from this Mountain (1960)
We must set out to do a good job irrespective of race. We must seek to do our life's work so well that nobody could do it better.
The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousnes (1960)
Thus, the threat of the free exercise of the ballot by the Negro and the white masses alike resulted in the establishment of a segregated society.
How Long, Not Long (1965)
This was the type of reasoning that prevailed.
Address to Cornell College (1962)
Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate.
Loving Your Enemies (1957)
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.
Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (1967)
Agape is more than aesthetic or romantic love. Agape is more than friendship. Agape is creative, redemptive good for all men. It is an overflowing love which seeks nothing in return.
Address to Cornell College (1962)
Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force, so beautifully exemplified in the life of our Christ, is the most potent instrument available in mankind's quest for peace and security.
Loving Your Enemies (1957)
If the moderates fail to act now, history will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamour of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.
Scientific progress over the past years has been amazing. Man through his scientific genius has been able to dwarf distance and place time in chains, so that today it's possible to eat breakfast in New York City and supper in London.
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.
Strength to Love (1963)
Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know now, that it isn't enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn't have enough money to buy a hamburger?
Visitors from outer space ... would be stupefied at our conduct. They would observe that for death planning we spend billions to create engines and strategies for war.
The backlash is merely the surfacing of prejudices . . . that already existed and . . . are just now starting to open.
He didn't have anything. He just went around serving and doing good.
The Drum Major Instinct (1968)
In short, over the last ten years the Negro decided to straighten his back up, realizing that a man cannot ride your back unless it is bent.
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
What is lacking is not sufficient knowledge of the solution but universal consciousness of the gravity of the problem and education of the billions who are its victims.
Family Planning - A Special and Urgent Concern (1966)
What is needed is a realization that 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.
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists, who are dedicated to justice, peace, and brotherhood. The trailblazers in human, academic, scientific, and religious freedom have always been nonconformists. In any cause that concerns the progress of mankind, put your faith in the nonconformist!
Strength to Love (1963)
We like to do something good. And you know, we like to be praised for it.
The Drum Major Instinct (1968)