Top 500 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes (2024 Update)
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151. “All life is interrelated. The agony of the poor impoverishes the rich; the betterment of the poor enriches the rich. We are inevitably our brother’s keeper because we are our brother’s brother. Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

152. “Seeing is not always believing.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

153. “The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

154. “Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

155. “If America does not use her vast resources of wealth to end poverty and make it possible for all of God’s children to have the basic necessities of life, she too will go to hell.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

156. “Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

157. “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars...”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

158. “The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. But education which stops with efficiency may prove the greatest menace to society. The most dangerous criminal may be the man gifted with reason, but with no morals.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

159. “Whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward!”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

160. “Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

161. “The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

162. “Jazz speaks for life. The Blues tell the story of life’s difficulties, and if you think for a moment, you will realize that they take the hardest realities of life and put them into music, only to come out with some new hope or sense of triumph.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

163. “It is not possible to be in favor of justice for some people and not be in favor of justice for all people.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

164. “We all too often have socialism for the rich and rugged free market capitalism for the poor.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

165. “My obligation is to do the right thing. The rest is in God’s hands.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

166. “Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

167. “I was not afraid of the words of the violent, but of the silence of the honest.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

168. “Every person must stand up and be accountable, but be responsible for their actions.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

169. “Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

170. “People with good intentions but limited understanding are more dangerous than people with total ill will.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

171. “There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

172. “There is within human nature an amazing potential for goodness.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

173. “I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

174. “Let us not wallow in the valley of despair.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

175. “It’s not burn baby burn, but learn, baby, learn, so that you can earn, baby, earn.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

176. “If you have not discovered something you are willing to die for, then you are not fit to live.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

177. “I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

178. “Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

179. “This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

180. “Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

181. “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

182. “Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

183. “Faith can give us courage to face the uncertainties of the future.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

184. “Without love, there is no reason to know anyone, for love will in the end connect us to our neighbors, our children and our hearts.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

185. “Power is the ability to achieve purpose.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

186. “You can’t reach good ends through evil means, because the means represent the seed and the end represents the tree.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

187. “If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

188. “Friends are forever Boys are whatever.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

189. “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.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

190. “The profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages a cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspires men to be more concerned about making a living than making a life.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

191. “All men are interdependent. Every nation is an heir of a vast treasury of ideas and labor to which both the living and the dead of all nations have contributed. Whether we realize it or not, each of us lives eternally ‘in the red.’ We are everlasting debtors to known and unknown men and women.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

192. “Personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

193. “Our eternal message of hope is that dawn will come.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

194. “Love even for enemies is the key to the solution of the problems of our world.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

195. “A Church that has lost its voice for justice is a Church that has lost its relevance in the world.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

196. “Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

197. “Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter. As you press for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the instruments of love.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

198. “We all can’t be famous but we can all be great and we become great when we serve others.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

199. “There is something wrong with our world, something fundamentally and basically wrong.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

200. “Was not Jesus an extremist in love? – “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.””

— Martin Luther King Jr.