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Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

Civil rights activist

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Famous Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

“I am convinced that it is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world. Our involvement in the war in Vietnam has torn up the Geneva Accord. It has strengthened the military-industrial complex; it has strengthened the forces of reaction in our nation. It has put us against the self-determination of a vast majority of the Vietnamese people, and put us in the position of protecting a corrupt regime that is stacked against the poor.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”

LoveWisdomEvilEnemyPowerWiseLove YouWords Of WisdomForgivenessHatredForgivingUnconditional LoveForgivenDeep ThoughtDeprivedLove HatePower Of LoveForgive YourselfLove Your EnemiesGood Against EvilI Forgive YouWhat Is ForgivenessLove And ForgivenessInspirational ForgivenessPower Of ForgivenessI Have A Dream SpeechKings SpeechKings And LoveLoving Your EnemiesForgiveness LoveHatred And LoveEvil WorldHated LovePowerful LoveAfrican American Civil RightsForgiveness And PeaceHatred For LoveGod Forgive MeForgiving LoveChristian Forgiveness
Book:A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings
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“The recent statement of your executive committee are the sentiments of my own heart and I found myself in full accord when I read its opening lines: "A time comes when silence is betrayal." That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam. Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak.”

TodayNightFoundSpeakSilenceBreakCallingBetrayalAgonySilence IsVocationBreaking Silence
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact...that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance; We've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven't learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.”

MenLooksKindFactsWisdomEarthFacesSpiritSufferingWalksPovertyAirSeaModernHavensBrotherBirdAngerFishesAbundanceSwimContrastTechnologicalBrothers And SistersModern Man
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.”

LifeHeartMomentsJoyHateLanguageMy HeartYogaSymbolsLive LifeFulfillmentFulfilledGraduationPower Of WordsHeart To HeartFulfilling LifeFulfilled LifePersonal FulfillmentLanguage And PowerFulfillment In Life
Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“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.”

NeedsHeartPersonsHomeFoundGenerationsDoorsWallDespairWarmMottoBreezeWhirlwind
Book:A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings
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“The nonviolent approach does not immediately change the heart of the oppressor. It first does something to the hearts and souls of those committed to it. It gives them new self-respect; it calls up resources of strength and courage they did not know they had.”

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Book:I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr
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“And you know, it's possible that the priest and the Levite looked over that man on the ground and wondered if the robbers were still around. Or it's possible that they felt that the man on the ground was merely faking. And he was acting like he had been robbed and hurt, in order to seize them over there, lure them there for quick and easy seizure. And so the first question that the Levite asked was, "If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?" But then the Good Samaritan came by. And he reversed the question: "If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“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. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.”

IfsKnowsMayHelpingValuesGrowsViewsCompassionEnemyConditionsBrotherWeaknessProfitPoint Of ViewOppositionMatureNonviolenceAssessmentTrue MeaningBreaking Silence
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“I said to my children, 'I'm going to work and do everything that I can do to see that you get a good education. I don't ever want you to forget that there are millions of God's children who will not and cannot get a good education, and I don't want you feeling that you are better than they are. For you will never be what you ought to be until they are what they ought to be.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quicksands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. Now is the time to make justice a reality for all of God’s children.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.”

WorldMayLightMotivationalHateCan DoJusticeDarknessViolenceConcernedMurderLiarsBrotherhoodMurderer
Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“In a real sense all life is inter-related. All men are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be, and you can never be what you ought to be until I am what I ought to be... This is the inter-related structure of reality.”

MenI CanRealRealityLife IsDestinyOughtStructureCaughtRelatedTiedGarments
Book:Strength to Love
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“And one day we must ask the question, "Why are there forty million poor people in America?" And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy.”

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Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate... Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

MayFactsLightLyingHateEvilFearPeaceCan DoDarknessViolenceKingsWeaknessHatredUltimateIncreaseMurderLiarsNon ViolenceOnly LoveSpiralsDescendingViolence And PeaceKings And LoveLove Not Hate
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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