Martin Luther King Quotes

Top 100 Martin Luther King Quotes

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

2. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

3. "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

4. "The time is always right to do what is right."

5. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

6. "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

7. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

8. "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."

9. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

10. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase."

11. "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education."

12. "Let no man pull you so low as to hate him."

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

14. "The time is always right to do what is right."

15. "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."

16. "The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."

17. "The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige, and even his life for the welfare of others."

18. "We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

19. "If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward."

20. "If you want to change the world, pick up your pen and write."

21. "In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds."

22. "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

23. "The time has come for all people of conscience to call upon America to come back home."

24. "I look to a day when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."

25. "No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they'd die for."

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

27. "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

28. "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."

29. "There comes a time when silence is betrayal."

30. "The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea."

31. "We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear."

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

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

Martin Luther King Jr. was a passionate advocate for love and nonviolence in the fight for civil rights. Here are some of his most powerful quotes on the subject of love:

1. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

2. "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."

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

4. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

5. "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."

6. "We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

7. "Love is the key to the solution of the problems of the world."

8. "We must love our white brothers, no matter what they do to us. We must make them know that we love them. Jesus still cries out in words that echo across the centuries: 'Love your enemies; bless them that curse you; pray for them that despitefully use you.'"

9. "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. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that."

These quotes demonstrate King's unwavering belief that love and nonviolence are powerful tools for change and progress in the world.