Quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

A social movement that only moves people is merely a revolt. A movement that changes both people and institutions is a revolution.

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question, "Is it right?"... The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge, moments of great crisis and controversy.

He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

This faith transforms the whirlwind of despair into a warm and reviving breeze of hope. The words of a motto which a generation ago were commonly found on the wall in the homes of devout persons need to be etched on our hearts: Fear knocked at the door. Faith answered. There was no one there.

I am what I am because of who we all are.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love

Without love, there is no reason to know anyone, for love will in the end connect us to our neighbors, our children and our hearts.

Science investigates, religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power, religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts, religion deals with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary. Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley of crippling irrationalism and paralysing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism.

The conservatives who say, Let us not move so fast, and the extremists who say, Let us go out and whip the world , would tell you that they are as far apart as the poles. But there is a striking parallel: They accomplish nothing; for they do not reach the people who have a crying need to be free.

A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.

When you are right, you cannot be too radical; When you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

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

If a man hasn't found something he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.

Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.

This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.

Put yourself in a state of mind where you say to yourself, 'Here is an opportunity for me to celebrate like never before, my own power, my own ability to get myself to do whatever is necessary.

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.

I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture of their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits. I believe that what self-centered men have torn down, men other-centered can build up I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

Right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it.