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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 think that my strong determination for justice comes from the very strong, dynamic personality of my father ... I have rarely ever met a person more fearless and courageous than my father ... The thing that I admire most about my dad is his genuine Christian character. He is a man of real integrity, deeply committed to moral and ethical principles. He is conscientious in all of his undertakings ... If I had a problem I could always call Daddy.”

IfsThinkingMenPersonsRealCharacterProblemChristianFatherStrongJusticeMoralPrinciplesPersonalityDadIntegrityMetsDeterminationMy DadCommittedGenuineAdmireFearlessCourageousEthicalVery StrongDaddyUndertakingsFathers DayEthical PrinciplesStrong DeterminationChristian CharacterDynamic Personality
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love.”

KnowsProblemTodayStrongAnswersLove IsTalkingMankindStrengthEmotionalCirclesNot Talking
Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“Our only hope today lies in our ability to recapture the revolutionary spirit and go out into a sometimes hostile world declaring eternal hostility to poverty, racism, and militarism... We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“At times, life is hard, as hard as crucible steel. It has its bleak and painful moments. Like the ever flowing water of a river, life has its moments of drought and its moments of flood. Like the ever-changin cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of the summers and the piercing chill of its winters. But through it all, God walks with us. Never forget that God is able to lift you from the fatigue of despair to the buoyancy of hope, and transform dark and desolate valleys into sunlit paths of inner peace.”

HardMomentsAbleLife IsWaterReligiousDarkWalksForgetPathDespairSummerRiversSeasonsWinterPainfulInner PeaceLiftsCyclesNever ForgetWarmthValleysFloodSteelChillFatigueSoothingBleakDroughtLife Is HardDesolatePiercingsCrucibleGod Is AbleBuoyancyFlowing WaterPainful MomentsFlood Likes
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“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. Nothing worthwhile is easy. Your ability to overcome unfavorable situations will provide you with time to demonstrate your true strength and determination for success. Always set your standards high, your greatest achievements lie within the infinite feats you achieve in your life.”

MenMomentsLyingEasyChallengesAbilitySituationAchieveComfortAchievementStandardsDeterminationUltimateOvercomingInfiniteMeaningfulMeaning Of LifeWorthwhileControversyConvenienceMeaningful LifeFeatsLife MeansGreatest AchievementMeasure Of A ManTrue StrengthStrength And Determination
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“But we are gravely mistaken to think that Christianity protects us from the pain and agony of mortal existence. Christianity has always insisted that the cross we bear precedes the crown we wear. To be a Christian, one must take up his cross, with all of its difficulties and agonizing and tragedy-packed content, and carry it until that very cross leaves its marks upon us and redeems us to that more excellent way which comes only through suffering.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“It is precisely because education is the road to equality and citizenship, that it has been made more elusive for Negroes than many other rights. The walling off of Negroes from equal education is part of the historical design to submerge him in second class status. Therefore, as Negroes have struggled to be free they have had to fight for the opportunity for a decent education.”

Has BeensMadeFightingOpportunityLibertyClassRightsDesignEqualHistoricalEqualityDecentCitizenshipElusiveClass StatusEqual Education
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“The nation is sick; trouble is in the land, confusion all around...But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars. And I see God working in this period of the twentieth century. Something is happening in our world. The masses of people are rising up. And wherever they are assembled today, whether they are in Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; or Memphis, Tennessee, the cry is always the same: 'We want to be free.'”

PeopleKnowsWorldWantEnoughTodayNationsStarsDarkCitiesLibertyTroubleLandCenturyCryNew YorkPeriodsMassHappeningsSickSouthTyrannyConfusionRisingOur WorldNew York CitySouth AfricaTwentieth CenturyGeorgiaMississippiKenyaAtlantaTennesseeMemphisRising UpGhanaJohannesburgNairobiAtlanta GeorgiaJackson Mississippi
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“I am not unmindful that some of you have come here out of great trials and tribulations. Some of you have come fresh from narrow cells. Some of you have come from areas where your quest for freedom left you battered by the storms of persecution and staggered by the winds of police brutality. You have been the veterans of creative suffering. Continue to work with the faith that unearned suffering is redemptive.”

Has BeensSufferingLeftLibertyCreativeWindAreasPoliceStormTrialsCellsNationalismQuestsPersecutionVeteranPolice BrutalityBrutalityTribulationTrials And TribulationsBatteredI Have A Dream Speech
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war... Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.”

WarGovernmentReligionNationsEffortSilenceAtheismSpeechTraditionCriticismFundamentalsDemocraticDestructiveFree SpeechCompellingViciousAmerican Tradition
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.”

IfsThinkingKnowsLoveDoeRealityBeautifulMovingHateCompassionDoorsKeysHighestDecidedUltimateSeekingBeautiful ThingsKnowing GodGod Is LoveUltimate Reality
Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“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.”

LifeMeanWarWholeProblemTogetherLife IsEvilFoundIndividualSocialForgetCommunicationHigherRacismCapitalismKingdomsCommunismBrotherhoodTiedExploitationThesisSynthesisAntithesis
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“In our struggle against racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, I came to see at a very early stage that a synthesis of Gandhi's method of nonviolence and the Christian ethic of love is the best weapon available to Negroes for this struggle for freedom and human dignity. It may well be that the Gandhian approach will bring about a solution to the race problem in America. His spirit is a continual reminder to oppressed people that it is possible to resist evil and yet not resort to violence.”

PeopleHumansWellsMayProblemChristianAmericaSpiritEvilLove IsRaceStruggleViolenceStageApproachWeaponsSolutionsEthicsDignityMethodAvailableNonviolenceOppressedRemindersResortsSegregationHuman DignityAlabamaSynthesisMontgomeryChristian EthicsStruggle For FreedomRacial Segregation
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“By opening our lives to God in Christ, we become new creatures. This experience, which Jesus spoke of as the new birth, is essential if we are to be transformed nonconformists . . . Only through an inner spiritual transformation do we gain the strength to fight vigorously the evils of the world in a humble and loving spirit.”

IfsWorldChristianSpiritualSpiritFightingEvilJesusChristOur LivesBirthCreaturesEssentialsGainsTransformationHumbleOpeningSpokesTransformedSpiritual Transformation
Book:A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings
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“Christianity affirms that at the heart of reality is a Heart, a loving Father who works through history for the salvation of His children. Man cannot save himself, for man is not the measure of all things and humanity is not God. Bound by the chains of his own sin and finiteness, man needs a Savior.”

MenNeedsHeartChildrenGodRealityChristianHumanityFatherReligiousSinChristianityAll ThingsSalvationBoundsChainsAfrican AmericanSaviorBaptists
Book:Strength to Love
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“Do to us what you will, and we will still love you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and as difficult as it is, we will still love you. But we assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory.”

HeartChildrenStillsHomeSufferingWinningProcessDifficultLove YouVictoryOne DayConscienceCapacityEncouragementOur ChildrenAppealsBombsAssuredStill Love YouWe Will Win
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites. The idealists are not usually realistic, and the realists are not usually idealistic. The militant are not generally known to be passive, nor the passive to be militant. Seldom are the humble self-assertive, or the self-assertive humble. But life at it's best is a creative synthesis of opposites in fruitful harmony.”

MenSelfStrongKnownCreativeOppositesHarmonyHumbleRealisticPassiveRealistIdealistMilitantStrong ManSynthesisIdealisticAssertive
Book:Strength to Love
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“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.”

PeopleHelpingEvilSocialJusticeSilenceAcceptingDestinyCourageRecordsInvolvedPeriodsIntegrityTragedyThreatInjusticeCaughtTransitionGood PeopleTiedGarmentsBad PeopleClamorCooperatingInjustice Anywhere
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership... Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.”

NeedsMayHumanityCausesSoundJusticeLeaderSubjectsGreatnessParticularIntegrityEgoCommitmentStressIntelligentCourageousDedicatedPublicity
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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