111 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes for MLK Day

Martin Luther King Jr. was an African American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the American civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. Most inspiring and powerful Martin Luther King Jr Quotes about equality, justice and love.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day or MLK Day is a federal holiday in the United States marking the birthday of Martin Luther King Jr. It is observed on the third Monday of January each year. Born in 1929, King’s actual birthday is January 15. MLK Day is celebrated to   honor the achievements of Martin Luther King, Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

1. “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

2. “Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

3. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

4. “The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

5. “Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

6. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

7. “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

8. “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. Day Quotes

8. “We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

8. “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Quotes by Martin Luther King Jr.

11. “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
12. “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. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
13. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
14. “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
15. “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

16. “Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
17. “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
18. “There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
19. “It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
20. “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK Day Quotes

21. “Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
22. “No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
23. “A man who won’t die for something is not fit to live.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
24. “A riot is the language of the unheard.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
25. “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

26. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
27. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
28. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
29. “He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
30. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

31. “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
32. “There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
33. “Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
34. “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
35. “Carve a tunnel of hope through the dark mountain of disappointment.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

36. “No person has the right to rain on your dreams.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
37. “We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
38. “The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
39. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
40. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr Inspiring Short Quotes

41. “Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
42. “Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
43. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
44. “When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
45. “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
46. “That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
47. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
48. “Only in the darkness can you see the stars.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
49. “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
50. “Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Famous Martin Luther King Jr Quotes

51. “People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
52. “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.
53. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
54. “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
55. “I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
56. “What is wrong in the world today is that the nations of the world are engaged in a bitter, colossal contest for supremacy.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
57. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
58. “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
59. “Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
60. “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr Quotes

61. “Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
62. “A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the instalment plan.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
63. “The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
64. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
65. “The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
66. “The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
67. “It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
68. “Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose, they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
69. “Mankind must put an end to war or war will put an end to mankind.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
70. “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

MLK Quotes

71. “Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
72. “I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
73. “Take the first step in faith. You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
74. “I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
75. “Seeing is not always believing.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
76. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
77. “We cannot walk alone.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
78. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
79. “The principle of self-defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
80. “We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr Day Quotes

81. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
82. “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
83. “At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
84. “We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
85. “All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
86. “A lie cannot live.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
87. “The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
88. “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
89. “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.
90. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther Quotes

91. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
92. “If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho’ we may be, our destiny is tied up with America’s destiny.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
93. “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.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
94. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
95. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” ~ MLK
96. “Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
97. “All we say to America is, ‘Be true to what you said on paper.’ … Somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly, Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech, Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
98. “We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”  ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
99. “For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
100. “We have come a long, long way, but we have a long, long way to go.” ~ MLK

Martin Luther King Jr Day Quotes

101. “The guardians of the status quo are always on hand with their oxygen tents to keep the old order alive.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
102. “In the long run of history, destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
103. “Time is neutral, it can be used either constructively or destructively.” ~ MLK
104. “Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability.” ~ MLK
105. “Nonviolence is not sterile passivity, but a powerful moral force which makes for social transformation.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
106. “I refuse to accept the idea that the ‘isness’ of man’s present nature makes him morally incapable of reaching up for the eternal ‘oughtness’ that forever confronts him.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
107. “It may be true that morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. It maybe true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
108. “If any of you are around when I have to meet my day … I’d like for somebody to say that day that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to love somebody.” ~ MLK
109. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.” ~ MLK
110. “I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.
111. “Property is intended to serve life, and no matter how much we surround it with rights and respect, it has no personal being. It is part of the earth man walks on. It is not man.” ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Over to you

Thank you for reading this. Over to you now. Which Martin Luther King Jr. quote did you like the most in the above list? Please let us know your favorite MLK quote in the comments section.

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