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Beyond the war years the grim and tortured struggle of Negroes to win their own freedom is an epic of battle against frightful odds. If we have failed to do enough, it was not the will for freedom that was weak, but the forces against us which were too strong.

— Martin Luther King Jr. Emancipation Proclamation Centennial Address (1962)

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More quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.

It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence in this world; it's nonviolence or nonexistence.

I've Been to the Mountaintop (1968)

We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart.

Strength to Love (1963)

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in healthcare is the most shocking and inhumane.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.

All Martin Luther King Jr. quotes →

Attribution

Quote text and notes from Wikiquote: Martin Luther King Jr. (page history), available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Source quality and labels are our own summary of what Wikiquote records.