MLK Jr. Quotes

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.

In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

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

Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

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.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

A right delayed is a right denied.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.