Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

1929–1968 United States

United States
Academics
Activists
Baptists
Nobel laureates

Also known as: Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., King, Martin Luther, Martin Luther King, Martin Luther King Jr, Martin Luther King, Jr, Martin Luther King, Jr.

Random Martin Luther King Jr. quote

362 quotes

I feel that segregation is totally unchristian, and that it is against everything the Christian religion stands for.

There is such a thing as the freedom of exhaustion. Some people are so worn down by the yoke of oppression that they give up.

Three Ways of Meeting Oppression (1958)

All too many white Americans are horrified not with conditions of Negro life but with the product of these conditions-the Negro himself.

The Role of the Behavioral Scientist in the Civil Rights Movement (1967)

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal."

Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)

Here and there an individual or group dares to love, and rises to the majestic heights of moral maturity. So in a real sense this is a great time to be alive.

The Quest for Peace and Justice (1964)

In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.

Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)

We recognize that his hate grows out of fear, pride, ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstanding, but in spite of this, we know God's image is ineffably etched in being.

I've seen people who discovered a great meaning in their jobs and they became so absorbed in that that they didn't have time to become self-centered. They loved their job.

Conquering Self-centeredness (1957)

There might be something within you that arouses the tragic hate response in the other individual.

Loving Your Enemies (1957)

I look at my little daughter every day and she wants certain things and when she wants them, she wants them.

Conquering Self-centeredness (1957)

Hate destroys the very structure of the personality of the hater.

Loving Your Enemies (1957)

I cannot express what I felt, but I knew at that moment that God's presence had never left me, that He had been with me there in solitary.

I'm going on believing and knowing that God is alive. You see, as long as love is around, God is alive. As long as justice is around, God is alive.

Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool (1967)

No matter what he does, you see God's image there.

Loving Your Enemies (1957)

But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.

Why Jesus Called A Man A Fool (1967)

The non-violent Negro is seeking to create the beloved community. He directs his attack on the forces of evil rather than on individuals. The tensions are not between the races, but between the forces of justice and injustice; between the forces of light and darkness.

Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.

I've Been to the Mountaintop (1968)

War is not the answer. Communism will never be defeated by the use of atomic bombs or nuclear weapons.

Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (1967)

The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all.

It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.

Attribution

Quotes and notes from Wikiquote: Martin Luther King Jr. (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0.