Quotes - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression...

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.

Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.

I must admit that I have gone through those moments when I was greatly disappointed with the church and what it has done in this period of social change.

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools. Ultimately a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus. On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, "Is it safe?" Expediency asks the question, "Is it politic?" And Vanity comes along and asks the question, "Is it popular?" But Conscience asks the question "Is it right?" And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must do it because Conscience tells him it is right.

Quotes - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I say to you that our goal is freedom, and I believe we are going to get there because however much she strays away from it, the goal of America is freedom. 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. The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites. We must combine the toughness of the serpent with the softness of the dove, a tough mind and a tender heart. The tough mind is sharp and penetrating, breaking through the crust of legends and myths and sifting the true from the false. Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power; religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary. There is little hope for us until we become toughminded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half-truths, and downright ignorance Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity. The chain reaction of evil hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation. Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. 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. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Quotes - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek. The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges. I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. 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. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day. Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time the need for mankind to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to violence and oppression. I refuse to accept the cynical notion that nation after nation must spiral down a militaristic stairway into the hell of thermonuclear destruction. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the nal word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant. The time is always right to do whats right. It is true that behavior cannot be legislated, and legislation cannot make you love me, but legislation can restrain you from lynching me, and I think that is kind of important. Weve been in the mountain of war. Weve been in the mountain of violence. Weve been in the mountain of hatred long enough. It is necessary to move on now, but only by moving out of this mountain can we move to the promised land of justice and brotherhood and the Kingdom of God. It all boils down to the fact that we must never allow ourselves to become satised with unattained goals. We must always maintain a kind of divine discontent.

Quotes - Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. This call for a worldwide fellowship that lifts neighborly concern beyond one's tribe, race, class, and nation is in reality a call for an all-embracing and unconditional love for all mankind. We can no longer afford to worship the god of hate or bow before the altar of retaliation. Don't let anybody make you think God chose America as his divine messianic force to be a sort of policeman of the whole world. Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change. ... Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have our moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And 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 identied with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love. It was this misinterpretation that caused Nietzsche, who was a philosopher of the will to power, to reject the Christian concept of love. It was this same misinterpretation which induced Christian theologians to reject the Nietzschean philosophy of the will to power in the name of the Christian idea of love. Now, we've got to get this thing right. 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. Source: http://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King,_Jr.