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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 have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed; We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“But there is another way. And that is to organize mass non-violent resistance based on the principle of love. It seems to me that this is the only way as our eyes look to the future. As we look out across the years and across the generations, let us develop and move right here. We must discover the power of love, the power, the redemptive power of love. And when we discover that we will be able to make of this old world a new world. We will be able to make men better. Love is the only way.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Agape is something of the understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill for all men. It is a love that seeks nothing in return. It is an overflowing love; it's what theologians would call the love of God working in the lives of men. And when you rise to love on this level, you begin to love men, not because they are likeable, but because God loves them.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“There may come a time when it will be possible for you to humiliate your worst enemy or even to defeat him, but in order to love the enemy you must not do it... The Greek language has another word [for love]. It calls it agape. Agape is more than romantic love. Agape is more than friendship. Agape is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men. Agape is an overflowing love, a spontaneous love, which seeks nothing in return. And theologians would say that it is the love of God operating in the human heart. When you rise to love on this level you love all men, not because you like them, not because their ways appeal to you, not because they are worthful to you, but you love all men because God loves them. And you rise to the noble heights of loving the person who does the evil deed while hating the deed that the person does. And I think this is what Jesus means when he says, “Love your enemies.””

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Somehow we must transform the dynamics of the world power struggle from the negative nuclear arms race which no one can win to a positive contest to harness man's creative genius for the purpose of making peace and prosperity a reality for all of the nations of the world.”

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Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“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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“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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“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.”

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Book:Strength to Love
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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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“A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam. A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift, is approaching spiritual death.I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds or energies in rehabilitation of its poor so long as adventures like Vietnam continued to draw men and skills and money like some demonic destructive suction tube. So I was increasingly compelled to see the war as an enemy of the poor.”

MenYearsLongWarAmericaSpiritualEnergyNationsSocialPoorSilenceEnemyMilitaryAdventureSkillsDrawsProgramRelationBetrayalDefenseUpliftingDestructiveFundVietnamAntiwarMore MoneySilence IsCompelledTubesRehabilitationDemonicBreaking SilenceSpiritual Death
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.”

MenHumansWarHomeHateNationsJusticeDarkHuman BeingsDrugAnd LoveBurningAntiwarBloodyVeinsFillingHumaneBattlefieldsWidowsOrphanPeace And JusticePoisonousHandicappedDerangedBreaking SilenceKings SpeechNapalmJustice And Love
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“In a sense we've come to our nation's capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men - yes, black men as well as white men - would be guaranteed the unalienable rights of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness... America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'”

PeopleMenWellsWould BeAmericaFallPoliticsGivenNationsBlackWhiteLibertyRightsPromiseConstitutionIndependenceNotesPursuitChecksFundRepublicArchitectCashMagnificentDeclarationWhite ManPursuit Of HappinessDeclaration Of IndependenceSigningHeirsInsufficientI Have A Dream SpeechUnalienable RightsLife Liberty And The Pursuit Of Happiness
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 in times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others. In dangerous valleys and hazardous pathways, he will lift some bruised and beaten brother to a higher and more noble life.”

MenMomentsChallengesRiskDangerousPositionBrotherHigherComfortUltimateNobleNeighborLiftsWelfareValleysBeatenControversyConveniencePathwaysPrestigeBruisedMeasure Of A ManTrue Measure Of A Man
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“Most of these people will never make the headlines and their names will not appear in Who's Who. Yet when years have rolled past and when the blazing light of truth is focused on this marvelous age in which we live - men and women will know and children will be taught that we have a finer land, a better people, a more noble civilization - because these humble children of God were willing to suffer for righteousness' sake.”

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Book:The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.:
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“Courageous men never lose the zest for living even though their life situation is zestless; cowardly men, overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life, lose the will to live. We must constantly build dykes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

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Book:A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings
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“The 'tide in the affairs of men' does not remain at the flood; it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is deaf to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residue of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words: 'Too late...'”

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Book:In a Single Garment of Destiny
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“There is little hope for us until we become tough-minded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half-truths, and downright ignorance. The shape of the world today does not permit us the luxury of soft mindedness. A nation or a civilization that continues to produce soft minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.”

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Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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“A religion true to its nature must also be concerned about man's social conditions....A ny religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion.”

MenSoulReligionSocialEconomicConditionsConcernedDustDamnDryDeep ThoughtCrippledSlumsCripplesSocial ConditionsStrangling
Author:Martin Luther King, Jr.
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