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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

“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate. The broad education will, therefore, transmit to one not only the accumulated knowledge of the race but also the accumulated experience of social living. If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, brethren! Be careful, teachers!”

IfsGivingEnoughCharacterRememberSocialGoalRaceTeacherGroupsProduceCollegeCarefulWorthyObjectivesConcentrationPlusBroadsBe CarefulImmoralConsumedBrethrenTransmitIllogicalTrue EducationPropagandistClose Minded
Book:The Papers of Martin Luther King, Jr
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“...we must realize that a vast majority of believers are still searching and will continue to search for the being who is the "source of human good." Those who seek with clear heads and sincere hearts will in some measure find. Of course the true seeker will realize that there is no one way to find God. To be sure, there are many possible ways of finding God.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“The potential beauty of human life is constantly made ugly by man's ever recurring song of retaliation. The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever rising tides of revenge. Man has never risen above the injunction of the lex talionis: "Life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot." In spite of the fact that the law of revenge solves no social problems, men continue to follow its disastrous leading. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path.”

MenHumansMadeSelfFactsProblemHandsEyeLawLife IsSongIndividualNationsSocialPathFeetOceanUglySolveRevengeTeethHuman LifeRisingSpiteTidesPursuedRisenRecurringSocial ProblemsRetaliationWreckage
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“With all of its false assumptions and evil methods, communism grew as a protest against the hardships of the underprivileged. Communism in theory emphasized a classless society, and a concern for social justice, though the world knows from sad experience that in practice it created new classes and a new lexicon of injustice.”

KnowsWorldWisdomEvilPoliticsSocialJusticeClassPracticeEconomyTheoryGrewConcernMethodSocial JusticeInjusticeCommunismAssumptionLiberalismProtestHardshipUnderprivilegedLexiconFalse AssumptionsNew ClassClassless Society
Book:A Martin Luther King Treasury
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“Capitalism is always in danger of inspiring men to be more concerned about making a living than making a life. We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles, rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to humanity-thus capitalism can lead to a practical materialism that is as pernicious as the materialism taught by communism.”

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Book:A Martin Luther King Treasury
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“Personalism's insistence that only personality-finite and infinite-is ultimately real strengthened me in two convictions: it gave me metaphysical and philosophical grounding for the idea of a personal God, and it gave me a metaphysical basis for the dignity and worth of all human personality.”

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Book:The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr
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“A nation that will keep people in slavery for 244 years will "thingify" them and make them things. And therefore, they will exploit them and poor people generally economically. And a nation that will exploit economically will have to have foreign investments and everything else, and it will have to use its military might to protect them. All of these problems are tied together. What I'm saying today is that we must go from this convention and say, "America, you must be born again!"”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“A host of positive psychological changes inevitably will result from widespread economic security. The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts among husbands, wives and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on the scale of dollars is eliminated.”

HumansMeanChildrenSelfWisdomHandsPoliticsIndividualDecisionResultsEconomyWifeEconomicSecurityHusbandConflictSelf ImprovementDignityDollarsImprovementScalesPsychologicalLiberalismHostUnjustDiminishMeasurementEconomic JusticeEconomic SecurityHusband Wife
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children.”

ChildrenCountryWisdomPoliticsWealthEconomyDemocracyCapitalismDemocraticSocialismLiberalismCapitalistDistributionDemocratic SocialismDistribution Of WealthSocial DemocracyCapitalism And Socialism
Book:From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice
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“Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force If we assume that life is worth living, if we assume that mankind has the right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war.”

IfsShouldMayHas BeensWarLife IsEvilForceGrowthBornMankindNegativeAssumingSpreadAlternativesWorth LivingObsoletePreventingLife Is Worth Living
Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“I knew that I could never again raise my voice against the violence of the oppressed in the ghettos without having first spoken clearly to the greatest purveyor of violence in the world today - my own government.... There is something strangely inconsistent about a nation and a press that would praise you when you say, 'Be nonviolent toward Jim Clark,' but will curse and damn you when you say, 'Be nonviolent toward little brown Vietnamese children!' There is something wrong with that press.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“This hour in history needs a dedicated circle of transformed nonconformists. Our planet teeters on the brink of annihilation; dangerous passions of pride, hatred, and selfishness are enthroned in our lives; and men do reverence before false gods of nationalism and materialism. The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.”

MenWorldNeedsPassionHoursCreativeOur LivesDangerousPlanetsPrideHatredMajorityCirclesSavingSelfishnessMinoritiesNationalismMaterialismOur WorldDedicatedReverenceTransformedConformDoomOur PlanetAdjustmentComplacentAnnihilationFalse GodsPending
Book:A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings
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“Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level. That's the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose... one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites --- polar opposites --- so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love... What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

ProblemPurposeJusticeAbilityLove IsAchieveNeededDemandUnderstoodConceptsOppositesAnd LoveRealizationDenialSentimentalRecklessResignationWithout LoveAbusiveCorrectingImplementingPolar OppositesAgainst LoveConcept Of Love
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Agape is disinterested love. . . . Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people, or any qualities people possess. It begins by loving others for their sakes. . . . Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friend and enemy; it is directed toward both.”

PeopleDoeFaithQualityEnemySakeWorthyDistinctionUnworthyDisinterestedLoving OthersFriends And EnemiesAgapeDisinterested Love
Book:A Martin Luther King Treasury
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“Truth is found neither in Marxism nor in traditional capitalism. Each represents a partial truth. Historically capitalism failed to see the truth in collective enterprise, and Marxism failed to see the truth in individual enterprise. Nineteenth century capitalism failed to see that life is social and Marxism failed and still fails to see that life is individual and personal. The Kingdom of God is neither the thesis of individual enterprise nor the antithesis of collective enterprise, but a synthesis which reconciles the truths of both.”

StillsWisdomLife IsFoundIndividualSocialFailingCenturyTruth IsCapitalismKingdomsTraditionalEnterpriseCollectivesMarxismKingdom Of GodReconcileNineteenth CenturyThesisSynthesisAntithesisPartial Truth
Book:The Radical King
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“A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“It is purposeless to tell Negroes they should not be enraged when they should be. Indeed, they will be mentally healthier if they do not suppress rage, but vent it constructively and use its energy peacefully but forcefully to cripple the operations of an oppressive society. Civil disobedience can utilize the militance wasted in riots to seize clothes or groceries many do not even want.”

IfsWantShouldUseEnergyClothesActivismRageOperationsDisobedienceRiotGroceriesCivil DisobedienceCripples
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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