Top 500 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes (2025 Update)
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101. “One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

102. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

103. “The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I can not be Silent.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

104. “A lie cannot live.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

105. “The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

106. “But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

107. “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

108. “One’s dignity may be assaulted, vandalized, cruelly mocked, but it an never be taken away unless it is surrendered.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

109. “Be The Peace You Wish To See In The World!”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

110. “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.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

111. “We must rapidly begin the shift from a “thing-oriented” society to a “person-oriented” society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

112. “Not only will we have to repent for the sins of bad people; but we also will have to repent for the appalling silence of good people.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

113. “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

114. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

115. “What seems so necessary today may not even be desirable tomorrow.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

116. “An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

117. “The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

118. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

119. “One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

120. “It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o’clock on Sunday morning.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

121. “Truth crushed to earth will rise again.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

122. “We must have the faith that things will work out somehow, that God will make a way for us when there seems no way.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

123. “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.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

124. “I’ve been to the Mountaintop.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

125. “Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

126. “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

127. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

128. “The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

129. “A productive and happy life is not something you find; it is something you make.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

130. “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

131. “Education without direction is a one-sided social value. Direct action without education is a meaningless expression of pure energy.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

132. “I just want to do God’s will.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

133. “The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

134. “The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

135. “It’s not the violence of the few that scares me, it’s the silence of the many.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

136. “The end of life is not to be happy, nor to achieve pleasure and avoid pain, but to do the will of God, come what may.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

137. “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

138. “Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

139. “But by all means, keep moving.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

140. “In a real sense faith is total surrender to God .”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

141. “We are now faced with the fact, my friends, that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

142. “If you want to be important-wonderful. If you want to be recognized-wonderful. If you want to be great-wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That’s a new definition of greatness.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

143. “Justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

144. “The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

145. “I have a dream, one dream, keep dreaming. Dream of freedom, justice dreaming, dreaming of equality and hopefully no longer required to dream them.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

146. “Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force is the most potent instrument available in mankind’s quest for peace and security.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

147. “Unity has never meant uniformity.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

148. “Voting is the foundation stone for political action.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

149. “Be an artist at whatever you do. Even if you are a street sweeper, be the Michelangelo of street sweepers.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

150. “Knowledge is a process of piling up facts; wisdom lies in their simplification.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.