WIST Quotations

King, Martin Luther -- “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” radio broadcast, CBC (Canada) (24 Dec 1967)

Dave — Thu, 23 Feb 2012 17:27:15 +0000

We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” radio broadcast, CBC (Canada) (24 Dec 1967)

King, Martin Luther -- “A Time to Break Silence,” speech, Clergy and Laity Concerned meeting, Riverside Church, New York City (4 Apr 1967)

Dave — Fri, 15 Jun 2012 12:28:36 +0000

On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“A Time to Break Silence,” speech, Clergy and Laity Concerned meeting, Riverside Church, New York City (4 Apr 1967)
(Source)

This address was reworked the following year into his book, Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?, ch. 6, "The World House," sec. 3 (1968), in a slightly altered form:

We are called to play the good Samaritan on life's roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be beaten and robbed as they make their journey through life. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it understands that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

King, Martin Luther -- “Beyond Vietnam,” speech, Clergy and Laity Concerned, Riverside Church, New York City (4 Apr 1967)

Dave — Fri, 27 Jul 2012 12:39:35 +0000

A nation that continues year after year to spend more on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Beyond Vietnam,” speech, Clergy and Laity Concerned, Riverside Church, New York City (4 Apr 1967)
(Source)

Reprinted (or the phrase repeated) in Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967) and The Trumpet of Conscience (1968). See also this.

King, Martin Luther -- “Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Ave. Baptist Church, Montgomery (11 Aug 1957)

Dave — Tue, 21 Mar 2023 19:49:37 +0000

If you have the privilege of a fine education, well, you have it because somebody made it possible. If you have the privilege to gain wealth and a bit of the world’s goods, well, you have it because somebody made it possible. So don’t boast, don’t be arrogant.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Ave. Baptist Church, Montgomery (11 Aug 1957)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Ave. Baptist Church, Montgomery, Ala. (11 Aug 1957)

Dave — Fri, 13 Jan 2023 17:35:15 +0000

We never get anywhere in this world without the forces of history and individual persons in the background helping us to get there.

King, Martin Luther -- “Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (11 Aug 1957)

Dave — Fri, 31 Mar 2017 21:55:37 +0000

An individual has not begun to live until he can rise above the narrow horizons of his particular individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity. And this is one of the big problems of life, that so many people never quite get to the point of rising above self. And so they end up the tragic victims of self-centeredness. They end up the victims of distorted and disrupted personality.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Conquering Self-Centeredness,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (11 Aug 1957)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Cooperative Competition / Noble Competition,” sermon outline

Dave — Thu, 24 Nov 2016 06:14:09 +0000

Now Jesus himself saw the power that competition holds over men. He did not ignore it. Yet he does something with the conception of competition that hadn’t been done before. He takes the conception which has been used for lower purposes and rescues it from many of its dangers, by suggesting a higher method of its use. This is how he applied the term to his disciples. He saw them in danger of using it for low purposes. They wanted to compete for reputation and position — “which of them should be accounted greatest?” Jesus says so, if you must use the power of competition, if you must compete with on another, make it as noble as you can by using it on noble things. Use it for a fine, unselfish thing. “He that is greatest among you shall serve.” Use it for human good. Who shall be the most useful. Compete with one another in humility. See which can be the truest servant. It seems that Christ says, “Use it, but use it for higher and holier purposes. Use it not to surpass one another in esteem, but use it to increase the amount of usefulness and brother-help.” Such conceptions of competition lead to the surprising and ennobling position that there can be competition without hate and jealousy. Behold! You can struggle to beat and yet rejoice to be beaten.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Cooperative Competition / Noble Competition,” sermon outline
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Cooperative Competition / Noble Competition,” sermon outline

Dave — Sat, 31 Dec 2016 01:19:00 +0000

“Which of them shall be accounted greatest?” Let the churches stop trying to outstrip each other in the number of their adherents, the size of its sanctuary, the abundance of wealth. If we must compete let us compete to see which can move toward the greatest attainment of truth, the greatest service of the poor, and the greatest salvation of the soul and bodies of men. If the Church entered this kind of competition we can imagine what a better world this would be.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Cooperative Competition / Noble Competition,” sermon outline
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, DC (1957)

Dave — Fri, 09 Jun 2017 04:20:24 +0000

This is no day for the rabble-rouser, whether he be Negro or white. We must realize that we are grappling with the most weighty social problem of this nation, and in grappling with such a complex problem there is no place for misguided emotionalism. We must work passionately and unrelentingly for the goal of freedom, but we must be sure that our hands are clean in the struggle. We must never struggle with falsehood, hate, or malice. We must never become bitter. I know how we feel sometime. There is the danger that those of us who have been forced so long to stand amid the tragic midnight of oppression—those of us who have been trampled over, those of us who have been kicked about — there is the danger that we will become bitter. But if we will become bitter and indulge in hate campaigns, the new order which is emerging will be nothing but a duplication of the old order.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, DC (1957)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, DC (1957)

Dave — Sat, 21 Jan 2017 00:03:17 +0000

We must meet hate with love. We must meet physical force with soul force. There is still a voice crying out through the vista of time, saying: “Love your enemies , bless them that curse you, pray for them that despitefully use you.” Then, and only then, can you matriculate into the university of eternal life. That same voice cries out in terms lifted to cosmic proportions: “He who lives by the sword will perish by the sword.” And history is replete with the bleached bones of nations that failed to follow this command. We must follow nonviolence and love.

King, Martin Luther -- “Give Us the Ballot,” Speech, Prayer Pilgrimage for Freedom, Washington, DC (1957)

Dave — Fri, 16 Jun 2017 20:47:44 +0000

We must not seek to use our emerging freedom and our growing power to do the same thing to the white minority that has been done to us for so many centuries. Our aim must never be to defeat or humiliate the white man. We must not become victimized with a philosophy of black supremacy. God is not interested merely in freeing black men and brown men and yellow men, but God is interested in freeing the whole human race.

King, Martin Luther -- “I Have a Dream,” speech, Washington, DC (28 Aug 1963)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:58:51 +0000

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood; 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. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“I Have a Dream,” speech, Washington, DC (28 Aug 1963)

King, Martin Luther -- “I Have a Dream,” speech, Washington, DC (28 Aug 1963)

Dave — Fri, 18 May 2012 20:38:54 +0000

From every mountainside, let freedom ring. When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, “Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“I Have a Dream,” speech, Washington, DC (28 Aug 1963)

King, Martin Luther -- “I’ve Been To The Mountaintop,” speech, Memphis (3 Apr 1968)

Dave — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 19:11:50 +0000

Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the Promised Land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people, will get to the promised land! So I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“I’ve Been To The Mountaintop,” speech, Memphis (3 Apr 1968)

King's final public speech. He was assassinated the following day.

King, Martin Luther -- “Keep Moving from This Mountain,” Spelman College (10 Apr 1960)

Dave — Fri, 08 Sep 2017 21:23:23 +0000

Segregation is a cancer in the body politic which must be removed before our democratic health can be realized. The underlying philosophy of segregation is diametrically opposed to the underlying philosophy of democracy and Christianity and all the sophisms of the logicians cannot make them lie down together.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Keep Moving from This Mountain,” Spelman College (10 Apr 1960)
(Source)

King used many of these phrases in other speeches and sermons during this period.

King, Martin Luther -- “Keep Moving from This Mountain,” Spelman College (10 Apr 1960)

Dave — Fri, 03 Nov 2017 17:50:37 +0000

We must make it clear that in our struggle to end this thing called segregation, we are not struggling for ourselves alone. We are not struggling only to free seventeen million Negroes. The festering sore of segregation debilitates the white man as well as the Negro. We are struggling to save the soul of America.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Keep Moving from This Mountain,” Spelman College (10 Apr 1960)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Loving Your Enemies,” sermon, Detroit Council of Churches Noon Lenten Services (1961-03-07)

Dave — Sat, 26 Aug 2017 22:39:07 +0000

We will match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will, and we will still love you. We cannot in all good conscience obey your unjust laws because non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. And so put us in jail, and we will go in with humble smiles on our faces, still loving you. Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and we will still love you. Send your propaganda agents around the country and make it appear that we are not fit morally, culturally, and otherwise for integration. And we will still love you. Send your hooded perpetrators of violence into our communities at the midnight hours, and drag us out on some wayside road and beat us and leave us half dead, and we will still love you. But be assured that we will wear you down by our capacity to suffer.

And one day we will win our freedom, but not only will we win freedom for ourselves, we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process. And our victory will be a double victory.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Loving Your Enemies,” sermon, Detroit Council of Churches Noon Lenten Services (1961-03-07)
(Source)

Reprinted in edited form in King, Strength to Love, ch. 5 "Loving Your Enemies," sec. 2 (1963). In the preface he notes this sermon was originally written while in jail in Georgia.

See Gandhi.

King, Martin Luther -- “Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery (17 Nov 1957)

Dave — Fri, 07 Jul 2017 23:41:19 +0000

Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. That’s why Jesus says, “Love your enemies.” Because if you hate your enemies, you have no way to redeem and to transform your enemies. But if you love your enemies, you will discover that at the very root of love is the power of redemption. You just keep loving people and keep loving them, even though they’re mistreating you. Here’s the person who is a neighbor, and this person is doing something wrong to you and all of that. Just keep being friendly to that person. Keep loving them. Don’t do anything to embarrass them. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with bitterness because they’re mad because you love them like that. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.

King, Martin Luther -- “Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery (17 Nov 1957)

Dave — Fri, 14 Jul 2017 23:45:05 +0000

History unfortunately leaves some people oppressed and some people oppressors. And there are three ways that individuals who are oppressed can deal with their oppression. One of them is to rise up against their oppressors with physical violence and corroding hatred. But oh this isn’t the way. For the danger and the weakness of this method is its futility. Violence creates many more social problems than it solves. And I’ve said, in so many instances, that as the Negro, in particular, and colored peoples all over the world struggle for freedom, if they succumb to the temptation of using violence in their struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and our chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos. Violence isn’t the way.

King, Martin Luther -- “Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery (25 Dec 1957)

Dave — Fri, 21 Jul 2017 20:40:50 +0000

Forgiveness does not mean ignoring what has been done or putting a false label on an evil act. It means, rather, that the evil act no longer remains as a barrier to the relationship. Forgiveness is a catalyst creating the atmosphere necessary for a fresh start and a new beginning. It is the lifting of a burden or the canceling of a debt. The words “I will forgive you, but I’ll never forget what you have done” never explain the real nature of forgiveness. Certainly one can never forget, if that means erasing it totally for his mind. But when we forgive, we forget in the sense that the evil deed is no longer a mental block impeding a new relationship. Likewise, we can never say, “I will forgive you, but I won’t have anything further to do with you.” Forgiveness means reconciliation, a coming together again. Without this, no man can love his enemies. The degree to which we are able to forgive determines the degree to which we are able to love our enemies.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery (25 Dec 1957)
(Source)

Not to be confused with a similarly-named sermon preached on 17 November of the same year. This sermon was reprinted in Strength to Love (1963)

King, Martin Luther -- “Loving Your Enemies,” Sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery (25 Dec 1957)

Dave — Fri, 11 Aug 2017 23:42:59 +0000

This simply means that 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. When we look beneath the surface, beneath the impulsive evil deed, we see within our enemy-neighbor a measure of goodness and know that the viciousness and evilness of his acts are not quite representative of all that he is. We see him in a new light. We recognize that his hate grows out of fear, pride, ignorance, prejudice, and misunderstanding, but in spite of this, we know God’s image is ineffably etched in being. Then we love our enemies by realizing that they are not totally bad and that they are not beyond the reach of God’s redemptive love.

King, Martin Luther -- “On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 1, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents, and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and, therefore, brothers.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 1, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 2, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“On Being a Good Neighbor,” sec. 2, sermon, A Gift of Love (1963)

King, Martin Luther -- “Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” Christian Century (13 Apr 1960)

Dave — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 12:55:55 +0000

Reason, devoid of the purifying power of faith, can never free itself from distortions and rationalizations.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Pilgrimage to Nonviolence,” Christian Century (13 Apr 1960)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Rediscovering Lost Values,” sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)

Dave — Sat, 04 Mar 2017 01:14:32 +0000

The most dangerous type of atheism is not theoretical atheism, but practical atheism — that’s the most dangerous type. And the world, even the church, is filled up with people who pay lip service to God and not life service. And there is always a danger that we will make it appear externally that we believe in God when internally we don’t. We say with our mouths that we believe in him, but we live with our lives like he never existed. That is the ever-present danger confronting religion. That’s a dangerous type of atheism.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Rediscovering Lost Values,” sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Rediscovering Lost Values,” sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)

Dave — Fri, 24 Feb 2017 19:42:06 +0000

The real problem is that through our scientific genius we’ve made of the world a neighborhood, but through our moral and spiritual genius we’ve failed to make of it a brotherhood.

King, Martin Luther -- “Rediscovering Lost Values,” Sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)

Dave — Fri, 07 Apr 2017 21:04:30 +0000

There is something wrong with our world, something fundamentally and basically wrong. I don’t think we have to look too far to see that. I’m sure that most of you would agree with me in making that assertion. And when we stop to analyze the cause of our world’s ills, many things come to mind. We begin to wonder if it is due to the fact that we don’t know enough. But it can’t be that. Because in terms of accumulated knowledge we know more today than men have known in any period of human history. We have the facts at our disposal. We know more about mathematics, about science, about social science, and philosophy than we’ve ever known in any period of the world’s history. So it can’t be because we don’t know enough. And then we wonder if it is due to the fact that our scientific genius lags behind. That is, if we have not made enough progress scientifically. Well then, it can’t be that. For our scientific progress over the past years has been amazing. Man through his scientific genius has been able to warp distance and place time in chains, so that today it’s possible to eat breakfast in New York City and supper in London, England. Back in about 1753 it took a letter three days to go from New York City to Washington, and today you can go from here to China in less time than that. It can’t be because man is stagnant in his scientific progress. Man’s scientific genius has been amazing. I think we have to look much deeper than that if we are to find the real cause of man’s problems and the real cause of the world’s ills today. If we are to really find it I think we will have to look in the hearts and souls of men.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Rediscovering Lost Values,” Sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Rediscovering Lost Values,” Sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)

Dave — Fri, 21 Apr 2017 22:10:08 +0000

And the great danger facing us today is not so much the atomic bomb that was created by physical science. Not so much that atomic bomb that you can put in an aeroplane and drop on the heads of hundreds and thousands of people — as dangerous as that is. But the real danger confronting civilization today is that atomic bomb which lies in the hearts and souls of men, capable of exploding into the vilest of hate and into the most damaging selfishness — that’s the atomic bomb that we’ve got to fear today. Problem is with the men. Within the heart and the souls of men. That is the real basis of our problem.

King, Martin Luther -- “Rediscovering Lost Values,” Sermon, Second Baptist Church, Detroit (28 Feb 1954)

Dave — Fri, 19 May 2017 22:32:40 +0000

But I’m here to say to you this morning that some things are right and some things are wrong. Eternally so, absolutely so. It’s wrong to hate. It always has been wrong and it always will be wrong. It’s wrong in America, it’s wrong in Germany, it’s wrong in Russia, it’s wrong in China. It was wrong in 2000 B.C., and it’s wrong in 1954 A.D. It always has been wrong, and it always will be wrong.

King, Martin Luther -- “Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution,” Commencement Speech, Morehouse College, Atlanta (2 Jun 1959)

Dave — Fri, 17 Feb 2012 13:25:51 +0000

As long as there is poverty in the world I can never be rich, even if I possess a billion dollars. As long as millions of people are inflicted with debilitating diseases and cannot expect to live more than thirty-five years, I can never be totally healthy even if I receive a perfect bill of health from Mayo Clinic. Strangely enough, I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Remaining Awake through a Great Revolution,” Commencement Speech, Morehouse College, Atlanta (2 Jun 1959)

Full text.

King, Martin Luther -- “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Mon, 16 Jan 2023 19:23:03 +0000

Somewhere we must come to see that human progress never rolls in on the wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and the persistent work of dedicated individuals who are willing to be coworkers with God. And without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. So we must have time and realize that the time is always right to do right.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Fri, 14 Oct 2016 21:38:05 +0000

It is no longer a choice, my friends, between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence. And the alternative to disarmament, the alternative to a greater suspension of nuclear tests, the alternative to strengthening the United Nations and thereby disarming the whole world, may well be a civilization plunged into the abyss of annihilation, and our earthly habitat would be transformed into an inferno that even the mind of Dante could not imagine.

King, Martin Luther -- “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” sermon, National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Mon, 10 Oct 2016 01:56:57 +0000

It is an unhappy truth that racism is a way of life for the vast majority of white Americans. Spoken and unspoken, acknowledged and denied, subtle, sometimes not so subtle, the disease of racism permeates and poisons a whole body politic.

And I can see nothing more urgent than for America to work passionately and unrelentingly to get rid of the disease of racism. Something positive must be done. Everyone must share in the guilt as individuals and as institutions. The government must certainly share the guilt. Individuals must share the guilt. Even the church must share the guilt.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” sermon, National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)
(Source)

This was King's last sermon before his assassination.

King, Martin Luther -- “Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution,” sermon, National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Sat, 24 Feb 2018 00:01:20 +0000

It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, “Wait on time.”

King, Martin Luther -- “The Birth of a New Age,” speech, Alpha Phi Alpha banquet, Buffalo (11 Aug 1956)

Dave — Mon, 24 Feb 2020 22:24:16 +0000

We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice. Not in love with publicity but in love with humanity.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Birth of a New Age,” speech, Alpha Phi Alpha banquet, Buffalo (11 Aug 1956)
(Source)

King used the same phrases, or variations of them, for different speeches and sermons, e.g., in "Desegregation and the Future" (15 Dec 1956), he used "Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity."

King, Martin Luther -- “The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations,” speech, General Assembly fo the National Council of Churches, St Louis (4 Dec 1957)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. It may be that our generation will have repent not only for the diabolical actions and vitriolic words of the children of darkness, but also for the crippling fears and tragic apathy of the children of light.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Christian Way of Life in Human Relations,” speech, General Assembly fo the National Council of Churches, St Louis (4 Dec 1957)
(Source)

Often paraphrased: "We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people." See also here.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Drum Major Instinct,” sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (4 Feb 1968)

Dave — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 10:09:43 +0000

Any church that violates the “whosoever will, let him come” doctrine is a dead, cold church, and nothing but a little social club with a thin veneer of religiosity.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Drum Major Instinct,” sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (4 Feb 1968)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Drum Major Instinct,” sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (4 Feb 1968)

Dave — Fri, 03 Apr 2015 15:42:23 +0000

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. 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. And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You don’t have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don’t have to know Einstein’s theory of relativity to serve. You don’t have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Drum Major Instinct,” sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta (4 Feb 1968)
(Source)

See Matthew 23:11-12.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Future of Integration” Finney Chapel, Oberlin College (22 Oct 1964)

Dave — Fri, 16 Feb 2018 16:51:13 +0000

The time is always right to do what’s right.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Future of Integration” Finney Chapel, Oberlin College (22 Oct 1964)

King gave several speeches over the years with this title.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Most Durable Power,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (6 Nov 1956)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:53:22 +0000

As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Most Durable Power,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (6 Nov 1956)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Most Durable Power,” sermon, Montgomery, Alabama (6 Nov 1956)

Dave — Wed, 02 Jan 2013 16:37:48 +0000

I still believe that standing up for the truth of God is the greatest thing in the word. This is the end of life. The end of life is not to be happy. The end of life is not to achieve pleasure and avoid pain. The end of life is to do the will of God, come what may.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Most Durable Power,” sermon, Montgomery, Alabama (6 Nov 1956)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Negro and the American Dream,” speech, North Carolina NAACP, Charlotte (1960-09-25)

Dave — Sat, 27 Jul 2019 02:02:15 +0000

It is a trite yet urgently true observation that if America is to remain a first-class nation, it cannot have second-class citizens.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Negro and the American Dream,” speech, North Carolina NAACP, Charlotte (1960-09-25)
(Source)

King used this line in several of his speeches at the time.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Other America,” speech, Stanford University (14 Apr 1967)

Dave — Fri, 14 Sep 2007 17:29:44 +0000

It may be true that morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. It may be true that the law cannot change the heart but it can restrain the heartless. It may be true that the law can’t make a man love me, but it can restrain him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important also.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Other America,” speech, Stanford University (14 Apr 1967)
(Source)

A motif King used frequently. In the Wall Street Journal (13 Nov 1962), King used the line, "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." In Strength to Love, 3.3 (1963), he wrote, "Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless."

King, Martin Luther -- “The Other America,” speech, Stanford University (14 Apr 1967)

Dave — Mon, 26 Jan 2015 14:00:33 +0000

A riot is the language of the unheard.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Other America,” speech, Stanford University (14 Apr 1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960)

Dave — Fri, 07 Feb 2020 22:03:18 +0000

Whenever racial discrimination exists it is a tragic expression of man’s spiritual degeneracy and moral bankruptcy. Therefore, it must be removed not merely because it is diplomatically expedient, but because it is morally compelling.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960)

Dave — Fri, 20 Mar 2020 16:05:07 +0000

But if physical death is the price that a man must pay to free his children and his white brethren from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing could be more redemptive. This is the type of soul force that I am convinced will triumph over the physical force of the oppressor.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness,” Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960)

Dave — Fri, 27 Mar 2020 22:40:29 +0000

One of the sure signs of maturity is the ability to rise to the point of self criticism.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (24 Jan 1954)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sermon, Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama (24 Jan 1954)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sermon, New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago (9 Apr 1967)

Dave — Thu, 11 Dec 2008 10:31:37 +0000

Atheism is the theory that there is no God. Now one kind is a theoretical kind, where someone just sits down and starts thinking about it, and they come to a conclusion that there is no God. The other kind is a practical atheism, and that kind goes out of living as if there is no God. And you know there are a lot of people who affirm the existence of God with their lips, and they deny his existence with their lives. You’ve seen these people who have a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sermon, New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago (9 Apr 1967)
(Source)

See also here.

King, Martin Luther -- “The Three Evils,” Keynote Speech, National Conference for New Politics, Chicago (31 Aug 1967)

Dave — Tue, 07 Mar 2023 21:26:39 +0000

Again we have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that Capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifice. The fact is that Capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves, and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor, both black and white, both here and abroad.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Three Evils,” Keynote Speech, National Conference for New Politics, Chicago (31 Aug 1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “The Trumpet of Conscience,” Steeler Lecture (Nov 1967)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“The Trumpet of Conscience,” Steeler Lecture (Nov 1967)

King, Martin Luther -- “Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)

Dave — Sat, 29 Oct 2016 04:51:27 +0000

I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will be still rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- “Where Do We Go From Here?” Southern Christian Leadership Conference Presidential Address (16 Aug 1967)

Dave — Mon, 09 Nov 2020 22:27:55 +0000

And I say to you, I have also decided to stick to love. For I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind’s problems. […] And I have seen too much hate. I’ve seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I’ve seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear.

King, Martin Luther -- “Why We Must Go to Washington” (15 Jan 1968)

Dave — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 16:12:48 +0000

The poorest people in our country today, on the whole, are working every day. But they are earning wages so low that they cannot begin to function in the mainstream of the economic life of our nation. … We have thousands and thousands of people working on full-time jobs, with part-time incomes.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
“Why We Must Go to Washington” (15 Jan 1968)

King, Martin Luther -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)

King, Martin Luther -- (Attributed)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)

King, Martin Luther -- (Attributed)

Dave — Wed, 27 Jan 2010 15:02:08 +0000

Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)

Variant: "Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step."

King, Martin Luther -- (Attributed)

Dave — Fri, 03 Aug 2012 12:35:15 +0000

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

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Attributed)

This phrase is frequently attributed to King, often pointing to some 1964 speech, though the exact phrasing can't be found in his works. He did use variations of the phrase on a number of occasions (e.g., "The Other America", speech at Grosse Pointe High School (14 Mar 1968), but it's also a construction that's been used by others before and after King.

King, Martin Luther -- (Misttributed)

Dave — Fri, 10 Aug 2012 11:58:58 +0000

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
(Misttributed)
(Source)

Often attributed directly to King, he prefaced it, in Why We Can't Wait (1964), with "Someone once wrote ..."

King, Martin Luther -- Pilgrimage to Non-Violence (1960)

Dave — Fri, 13 Apr 2012 12:21:36 +0000

The gospel at its best deals with the whole man, not only his soul but his body, not only his spiritual well-being, but his material well being. Any religion that professes to be concerned about the souls of men and is not concerned about the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them and the social conditions that cripple them is a spiritually moribund religion awaiting burial.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Pilgrimage to Non-Violence (1960)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Fri, 06 Apr 2018 18:24:40 +0000

There are many signs that the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. Unless the early sacrificial spirit is recaptured, I am very much afraid that today’s Christian church will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and we will see the Christian church dismissed as a social club with no meaning or effectiveness for our time, as a form without substance, as salt without savor. The real tragedy, though, is not Martin Luther King’s disillusionment with the church — for I am sustained by its spiritual blessings as a minister of the gospel with a lifelong commitment. The tragedy is that in my travels, I meet young people of all races whose disenchantment with the church has soured into outright disgust.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Fri, 13 Apr 2018 23:28:10 +0000

It is not a threat but a fact of history that if an oppressed people’s pent-up emotions are not nonviolently released, they will be violently released. So let the Negro march. Let him make pilgrimages to city hall. Let him go on freedom rides. And above all, make an effort to understand why he must do this. For if his frustration and despair are allowed to continue piling up, millions of Negroes will seek solace and security in black-nationalist ideologies. And this, inevitably, would lead to a frightening racial nightmare.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Fri, 03 Aug 2018 15:21:54 +0000

I decided that perhaps I would like to think of myself as an extremist — in the light of the spirit which made Jesus an extremist for love. If it sounds as though I am comparing myself to the Savior, let me remind you that all who honor themselves with the claim of being “Christians” should compare themselves to Jesus. Thus I consider myself an extremist for that brotherhood of man which Paul so nobly expressed: “There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.” Love is the only force on earth that can be dispensed or received in an extreme manner, without any qualifications, without any harm to the giver or to the receiver.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Mon, 15 Oct 2018 14:09:10 +0000

The essence of the Epistles of Paul is that Christians should rejoice at being deemed worthy to suffer for what they believe. The projection of a social gospel, in my opinion, is the true witness of a Christian life. This is the meaning of the true ekklesia — the inner, spiritual church. The church once changed society. It was then a thermostat of society. But today I feel that too much of the church is merely a thermometer, which measures rather than molds popular opinion.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Fri, 28 Dec 2018 20:17:43 +0000

My personal disillusionment with the church began when I was thrust into the leadership of the bus protest in Montgomery. I was confident that the white ministers, priests and rabbis of the South would prove strong allies in our just cause. But some became open adversaries, some cautiously shrank from the issue, and others hid behind silence. My optimism about help from the white church was shattered; and on too many occasions since, my hopes for the white church have been dashed. There are many signs that the judgment of God is upon the church as never before. Unless the early sacrificial spirit is recaptured, I am very much afraid that today’s Christian church will lose its authenticity, forfeit the loyalty of millions, and we will see the Christian church dismissed as a social club with no meaning or effectiveness for our time, as a form without substance, as salt without savor. The real tragedy, though, is not Martin Luther King’s disillusionment with the church — for I am sustained by its spiritual blessings as a minister of the gospel with a lifelong commitment: The tragedy is that in my travels, I meet young people of all races whose disenchantment with the church has soured into outright disgust.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Sat, 19 Jan 2019 04:22:55 +0000

A strong man must be militant as well as moderate. He must be a realist as well as an idealist. If I am to merit the trust invested in me by some of my race, I must be both of these things. This is why nonviolence is a powerful as well as a just weapon. If you confront a man who has long been cruelly misusing you, and say, “Punish me, if you will; I do not deserve it, but I will accept it, so that the world will know I am right and you are wrong,” then you wield a powerful and a just weapon. This man, your oppressor, is automatically morally defeated, and if he has any conscience, he is ashamed. Wherever this weapon is used in a manner that stirs a community’s, or a nation’s, anguished conscience, then the pressure of public opinion becomes an ally in your just cause.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Mon, 25 Mar 2019 00:46:34 +0000

I’d be the first to say that some historical victories have been won by violence; the U.S. Revolution is certainly one of the foremost. But the Negro revolution is seeking integration, not independence. Those fighting for independence have the purpose to drive out the oppressors. But here in America, we’ve got to live together. We’ve got to find a way to reconcile ourselves to living in community, one group with the other. The struggle of the Negro in America, to be successful, must be waged with resolute efforts, but efforts that are kept strictly within the framework of our democratic society. This means reaching, educating and moving large enough groups of people of both races to stir the conscience of the nation.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Playboy interview (Jan 1965)

Dave — Sun, 05 May 2019 22:15:19 +0000

I endorse it. I think it was correct. Contrary to what many have said, it sought to outlaw neither prayer nor belief in god. In a pluralistic society such as ours, who is to determine what prayer shall be spoken and by whom? Legally, constitutionally or otherwise, the state certainly has no such right.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Playboy interview (Jan 1965)
(Source)

On the U.S. Supreme Court's decision to ban school-led prayer.

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 1 “A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart,” sec. 1 (1963)

Dave — Tue, 26 Mar 2013 00:42:02 +0000

Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge that is power; religion gives man wisdom that is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals. They are complimentary. Science keeps religion from sinking into the valley fo crippling irrationalism and paralyzing obscurantism. Religion prevents science from falling into the marsh of obsolete materialism and moral nihilism.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 1 “A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart,” sec. 1 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Non-Conformist” (1963)

Dave — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 10:43:36 +0000

Success, recognition, and conformity are the bywords of the modern world where everyone seems to crave the anesthetizing security of being identified with the majority.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Non-Conformist” (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Will we continue to march to the drumbeat of conformity and respectability, or will we, listening to the beat of a more distant drum, move to its echoing sounds? Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)

Dave — Tue, 24 Jan 2012 14:13:25 +0000

The saving of our world from pending doom will come, not through the complacent adjustment of the conforming majority, but through the creative maladjustment of a nonconforming minority.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 2 “Transformed Nonconformist,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 4 “Love in Action,” sec 3 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 13 May 2010 13:02:17 +0000

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 4 “Love in Action,” sec 3 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength To Love, ch. 5 “Loving Your Enemies,” sec. 2 (1963)

Dave — Fri, 20 Apr 2012 14:26:24 +0000

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction […] 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.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength To Love, ch. 5 “Loving Your Enemies,” sec. 2 (1963)
(Source)

See also this.

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 5 “Loving Your Enemies,” sec. 2 (1963)

Dave — Fri, 25 Oct 2013 17:05:41 +0000

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 5 “Loving Your Enemies,” sec. 2 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 6 “A Knock at Midnight,” sec. 3 (1963)

Dave — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 10:34:13 +0000

The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state. It must be the guide and the critic of the state, and never its tool. If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. If the church does not participate actively in the struggle for peace and for economic and racial justice, it will forfeit the loyalty of millions and cause men everywhere to say that it has atrophied its will.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 6 “A Knock at Midnight,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 7 “The Man Who Was a Fool,” sec. 3 (1963)

Dave — Fri, 25 Apr 2014 14:08:09 +0000

The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 7 “The Man Who Was a Fool,” sec. 3 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 9 “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sec. 2 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 13:10:13 +0000

When Jesus painted that symbolic picture of the great assize, he made it clear that the norm for determining the division between the sheep and the goats would be deeds done for others. One will not be asked how many academic degrees he obtained or how much money he acquired, but how much he did for others. Did you feed the hungry? Did you give a cup of cold water to the thirsty? Did you clothe the naked? Did you visit the sick and minister to the imprisoned? In a sense, every day is judgment day, and we, through our deeds and words, our silence and speech, are constantly writing in the Book of Life.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 9 “Three Dimensions of a Complete Life,” sec. 2 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 10 “Shattered Dreams,” sec. 2 (1963)

Dave — Mon, 21 Mar 2011 13:52:39 +0000

We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope. Only in this way shall we live without the fatigue of bitterness and the drain of resentment.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 10 “Shattered Dreams,” sec. 2 (1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Strength to Love, ch. 11 “What Is Man?” (1963)

Dave — Mon, 28 Nov 2011 14:03:23 +0000

Man is neither villain nor hero; he is rather both villain and hero.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Strength to Love, ch. 11 “What Is Man?” (1963)
(Source)

Describing a more realistic view of humanity neither in "the thesis of pessimistic materialism nor the antithesis of optimistic humanism."

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)
(Source)

Response to a Montgomery resident who complained that race relations had been so "peaceful and harmonious" before King and other protesters arrived.

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)

Dave — Fri, 11 May 2012 10:22:27 +0000

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)

Dave — Fri, 17 Mar 2017 19:24:55 +0000

Certainly, otherworldly concerns have a deep and significant place in all religions worthy of the name. Any religion that is completely earthbound sells its birthright for a mess of naturalistic pottage. Religion at its best, deals not only with man’s preliminary concerns but with his inescapable ultimate concern. When religion overlooks this basic fact it is reduced to a mere ethical system in which eternity is absorbed into time and God is relegated to a sort of meaningless figment of the human imagination.

But a religion true to its nature must also be concerned about man’s social conditions. Religion deals with both earth and heaven, both time and eternity. Religion operates not only on the vertical plane but also on the horizontal. It seeks not only to integrate men with God but to integrate men with men and each man with himself.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)

Dave — Fri, 24 Mar 2017 17:30:44 +0000

Any religion that professes to be concerned with the souls of men and is not concerned with the slums that damn them, the economic conditions that strangle them, and the social conditions that cripple them is a dry-as-dust religion. Such a religion is the kind the Marxists like to see — an opiate of the people.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 2 “Montgomery Before the Protest” (1958)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. Each can spell either salvation or doom.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)

Dave — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 14:09:36 +0000

To accept passively an unjust system is to cooperate with that system; thereby the oppressed become as evil as the oppressor. Non-cooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. The oppressed must never allow the conscience of the oppressor to slumber. Religion reminds every man that he is his brother’s keeper. To accept injustice or segregation passively is to say to the oppressor that his actions are morally right. It is a way of allowing his conscience to fall asleep. At this moment the oppressed fails to be his brother’s keeper. So acquiescence — while often the easier way — is not the moral way. It is the way of the coward.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)

Dave — Sat, 02 Sep 2017 19:00:33 +0000

Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everybody blind. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love. It destroys community and makes brotherhood impossible. It leaves society in monologue rather than dialogue. Violence ends by defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Stride Toward Freedom, ch. 11 “Where Do We Go from Here?” (1958)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- The Measures of Man (1959)

Dave — Sat, 15 Apr 2017 21:31:38 +0000

Man is man because he is free to operate within the framework of his destiny. He is free to deliberate, to make decisions, and to choose between alternatives. He is distinguished from animals by his freedom to do evil or to do good and to walk the high road of beauty or tread the low road of ugly degeneracy.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
The Measures of Man (1959)

King, Martin Luther -- The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Now the judgment of God is upon us, and we must either learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)

King, Martin Luther -- The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)

Dave — Fri, 04 May 2012 12:36:47 +0000

Somehow this madness must cease. We must stop now. I speak as a child of God and brother to the suffering poor of Vietnam. I speak for those whose land is being laid waste, whose homes are being destroyed, whose culture is being subverted. I speak for the poor in America who are paying the double price of smashed hopes at home and death and corruption in Vietnam. I speak as a citizen of the world, for the world as it stands aghast at the path we have taken. I speak as an American to the leaders of my own nation. The great initiative in this war is ours. The initiative to stop it must be ours.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)

King, Martin Luther -- The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)

Dave — Thu, 21 Feb 2013 13:22:52 +0000

Alienation is a form of living death. It is the acid of despair that dissolves society.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Fri, 22 Jun 2012 12:28:14 +0000

We must honestly admit that capitalism has often left a gulf between superfluous wealth and abject poverty, has created conditions permitting necessities to be taken from the many to give luxuries to the few, and has encouraged small-hearted men to become cold and conscienceless so that, like Dives before Lazarus, they are unmoved by suffering, poverty-stricken humanity. The profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspire men to be more I-centered than thou-centered.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 10:34:17 +0000

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Wed, 17 Mar 2010 14:50:24 +0000

To ignore evil is to become an accomplice to it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Fri, 29 Jun 2012 15:10:49 +0000

Communism reduces men to a cog in the wheel of the state. The communist may object, saying that in Marxian theory the state is an “interim reality” that will “wither away” when the classless society emerges. True — in theory; but it is also true that, while the state lasts, it is an end in itself. Man is a means to that end. He has no inalienable rights. His only rights are derived from, and conferred by, the state. Under such a system the fountain of freedom runs dry.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Fri, 01 Jun 2012 13:31:13 +0000

A true revolution of values will soon look uneasily on the glaring contrast of poverty and wealth.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Fri, 08 Jun 2012 11:44:38 +0000

Truth is found neither in traditional capitalism nor in classical communism. Each represents a partial truth. Capitalism fails to see the truth in collectivism. Communism fails to see the truth in individualism. Capitalism fails to realize that life is social. Communism fails to realize that life is personal.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Sat, 22 Oct 2016 03:59:51 +0000

White Americans must recognize that justice for black people cannot be achieved without radical changes in the structure of our society. The comfortable, entrenched, the privileged cannot continue to tremble at the prospect of change of the status quo. There is no separate white path to power and fulfillment, short of social disaster, that does not share power with black aspirations for freedom and human dignity.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)

Dave — Fri, 17 Nov 2017 18:42:10 +0000

Many of the ugly pages of American history have been obscured and forgotten. A society is always eager to cover misdeeds with a cloak of forgetfulness, but no society can fully repress an ugly past when the ravages persist into the present. America owes a debt of justice which it has only begun to pay. If it loses the will to finish or slackens in its determination, history will recall its crimes and the country that would be great will lack the most indispensable element of greatness — justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? ch. 2 “Black Power” (1967)

Dave — Mon, 07 May 2012 13:48:53 +0000

What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive and that love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? ch. 2 “Black Power” (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? ch. 5 “Where We Are Going?” (1967)

Dave — Fri, 06 Jul 2012 12:15:16 +0000

The curse of poverty has no justification in our age. It is socially as cruel and blind as the practice of cannibalism at the dawn of civilization, when men ate each other because they had not yet learned to take food from the soil or to consume the abundant animal life around them. The time has come for us to civilize ourselves by the total, direct and immediate abolition of poverty.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community? ch. 5 “Where We Are Going?” (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? ch. 6 (1967)

Dave — Fri, 20 Jul 2012 12:47:44 +0000

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. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? ch. 6 (1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Essay (1968), “A Testament of Hope,” Playboy magazine (1969-01)

Dave — Tue, 21 Oct 2025 15:24:30 +0000

America has not yet changed because so many think it need not change, but this is the illusion of the damned.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Essay (1968), “A Testament of Hope,” Playboy magazine (1969-01)
(Source)

Collected in James Melvin Washington (ed.), A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings of Martin Luther King, Jr., Part 3, ch. 48 (1986).

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

Another phrase King used on repeated occasions, e.g., "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Therefore, no American can afford to be apathetic about the problem of racial justice. It is a problem that meets every man at his front door" -- "The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness," Speech, National Urban League, New York (6 Sep 1960).

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law, as would the rabid segregationist. That would lead to anarchy. One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty. I submit that 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 law.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 10:48:38 +0000

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 18:03:25 +0000

Yes, I see the church as the body of Christ. But, oh! How we have blemished and scarred that body through social neglect and through fear of being nonconformists.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Fri, 12 Jun 2009 13:11:33 +0000

I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen’s Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to “order” than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says: “I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I cannot agree with your methods of direct action”; who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom; who lives by a mythical concept of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait for a “more convenient season.” Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Fri, 19 Jun 2009 12:05:29 +0000

Actually, we who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive. We bring it out in the open, where it can be seen and dealt with. Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 19:14:06 +0000

I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and that when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress. I had hoped that the white moderate would understand that the present tension in the South is a necessary phase of the transition from an obnoxious negative peace, in which the Negro passively accepted his unjust plight, to a substantive and positive peace, in which all men will respect the dignity and worth of human personality.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Fri, 24 Feb 2012 15:06:36 +0000

We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed. Frankly, I have yet to engage in a direct action campaign that was “well timed” in the view of those who have not suffered unduly from the disease of segregation. For years now I have heard the word “Wait!” It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This “Wait” has almost always meant “Never.” We must come to see, with one of our distinguished jurists, that “justice too long delayed is justice denied.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

See Gladstone.

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Fri, 31 Jul 2015 14:40:49 +0000

I have tried to make it clear that it is wrong to use immoral means to attain moral ends. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)

Dave — Thu, 01 Oct 2015 15:23:26 +0000

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was “legal” and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was “illegal.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Letter from Birmingham Jail (16 Apr 1963)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)

Dave — Tue, 18 Jan 2005 09:57:42 +0000

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)

King, Martin Luther -- Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)

Dave — Fri, 30 Dec 2011 18:09:42 +0000

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 final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)

King, Martin Luther -- Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)

Dave — Fri, 25 May 2012 16:28:02 +0000

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. 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. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Nobel Prize acceptance speech, Stockholm, Sweden (11 Dec 1964)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon (1957-11-17), “Loving Your Enemies,” Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery

Dave — Sat, 01 Jul 2017 01:38:54 +0000

In the final analysis, love is not this sentimental something that we talk about. It’s not merely an emotional something. Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual. When you rise to the level of love, of its great beauty and power, you seek only to defeat evil systems. Individuals who happen to be caught up in that system, you love, but you seek to defeat the system.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon (1957-11-17), “Loving Your Enemies,” Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon (1967-12-24), “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta

Dave — Fri, 29 Mar 2024 16:25:27 +0000

Yes, I am personally the victim of deferred dreams, of blasted hopes, but in spite of that I close today by saying I still have a dream, because, you know, you can’t give up in life. If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon (1967-12-24), “A Christmas Sermon on Peace,” Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta
(Source)

Broadcast by CBC Radio as the final of King's Massey Lectures, "Conscience for Change." Collected in Conscience for Change, republished after his assassination as The Trumpet of Conscience (1968).

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church (4 Feb 1968)

Dave — Sat, 03 Sep 2011 19:36:14 +0000

Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice. Say that I was a drum major for peace. I was a drum major for righteousness. And all of the other shallow things will not matter. I won’t have any money to leave behind. I won’t have the fine and luxurious things of life to leave behind. But I just want to leave a committed life behind.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Ebenezer Baptist Church (4 Feb 1968)

Full text. Adaptation by King of the 1952 homily "Drum-Major Instincts" by J. Wallace Hamilton. Paraphrased on the MLK memorial in Washington, DC, as, "I was a drum major for justice, peace and righteousness"; the inscription was later removed.

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago (9 Apr 1967)

Dave — Tue, 10 Mar 2015 12:32:54 +0000

We are challenged on every hand to work untiringly to achieve excellence in our lifework. Not all men are called to specialized or professional jobs; even fewer rise to the heights of genius in the arts and sciences; many are called to be laborers in factories, fields and streets. But no work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts should be undertaken with painstaking excellence. If a man is called to be a street sweeper he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say “Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, New Covenant Baptist Church, Chicago (9 Apr 1967)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 14:10:56 +0000

It is all right to tell a man to lift himself up by his own bootstraps, but it is a cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself up by his own bootstraps.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral (31 Mar 1968)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Mon, 20 Feb 2012 14:08:33 +0000

Ultimately, a great nation is a compassionate nation.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington (31 Mar 1968)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Wed, 11 Jul 2012 12:51:02 +0000

There is nothing new about poverty. What is new is that we now have the techniques and the resources to get rid of poverty. The real question is whether we have the will.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington (31 Mar 1968)

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

Dave — Mon, 30 Mar 2009 11:04:56 +0000

Vanity asks the question — is it popular? Conscience asks the question — is it right?

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Passion Sunday, National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968)

See also this.

King, Martin Luther -- Sermon, Selma, Alabama (8 Mar 1965)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

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. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Sermon, Selma, Alabama (8 Mar 1965)

Possibly the source of the uncited attributions (or variants) "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter" and "The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die."

King, Martin Luther -- Speech (1962-09-12), Emancipation Proclamation Centennial Address, New York City

Dave — Wed, 12 Nov 2014 14:02:11 +0000

If our nation had done nothing more in its whole history than to create just two documents, its contribution to civilization would be imperishable. The first of these documents is the Declaration of Independence and the other is that which we are here to honor tonight, the Emancipation Proclamation. All tyrants, past, present and future, are powerless to bury the truths in these declarations, no matter how extensive their legions, how vast their power and how malignant their evil.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech (1962-09-12), Emancipation Proclamation Centennial Address, New York City
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Speech (1963-08-28), “I Have a Dream,” Washington, D. C.

Dave — Thu, 07 Jul 2016 17:49:43 +0000

In a sense we’ve come to our nation’s capital to cash a check. When the architects of our republic wrote the magnificent words of the Constitution and the Declaration of Independence, they were signing a promissory note to which every American was to fall heir. This note was a promise that all men, yes, black men as well as white men, would be guaranteed the “unalienable Rights” of “Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note, insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.”
But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. And so, we’ve come to cash this check, a check that will give us upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech (1963-08-28), “I Have a Dream,” Washington, D. C.
(Source)

See Jefferson.

King, Martin Luther -- Speech to Shop Stewards, Local 815, Teamsters and the Allied Trades Council, New York City (2 May 1967)

Dave — Fri, 31 May 2019 19:12:29 +0000

Negroes are not the only poor in the nation. There are nearly twice as many white poor as Negro, and therefore the struggle against poverty is not involved solely with color or racial discrimination but with elementary economic justice.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech to Shop Stewards, Local 815, Teamsters and the Allied Trades Council, New York City (2 May 1967)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Speech to Striking Sanitation Workers, Memphis, Tennessee (18 Mar 1968)

Dave — Fri, 13 Jul 2012 15:41:33 +0000

With Selma and the voting rights bill one era of our struggle came to a close and a new era came into being. Now our struggle is for genuine equality, which means economic equality. For we know that it isn’t enough to integrate lunch counters. What does it profit a man to be able to eat at an integrated lunch counter if he doesn’t earn enough money to buy a hamburger and a coup of coffee?

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech to Striking Sanitation Workers, Memphis, Tennessee (18 Mar 1968)

King appears to have used the phrase on a number of occasions (I found references to a Birmingham sit-in and to 1965), but the above is the one case, a few weeks before his death, that I was able to pin down.

Other (earlier) versions one finds quoted and paraphrased:

"It does no good to be able to eat at a lunch counter if you can't afford to buy a hamburger."
"It doesn't do much good when you can sit at a lunch couner but you can't afford to buy a hamburger."
"What good does it do to be able to eat at a lunch counter if you can't buy a hamburger?"

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, AFL-CIO Convention, Miami (11 Dec 1961)

Dave — Fri, 10 Nov 2017 17:43:05 +0000

Less than a century ago, the laborer had no rights, little or no respect, and led a life which was socially submerged and barren. He was hired and fired by economic despots whose power over him decreed his life or death. […] American industry organized misery into sweatshops and proclaimed the right of capital to act without restraints and without conscience. […] The inspiring answer to this intolerable and dehumanizing existence was economic organization through trade unions. The worker became determined not to wait for charitable impulses to grow in his employer. He constructed the means by which fairer sharing of the fruits of his toil had to be given to him or the wheels of industry, which he alone turned, would halt and wealth for no one would be available.

This revolution within industry was fought bitterly by those who blindly believed their right to uncontrolled profits was a law of the universe, and that without the maintenance of the old order, catastrophe faced the nation. But history is a great teacher. Now everyone knows that the labor movement did not diminish the strength of the nation but enlarged it by raising the living standards of millions. Labor miraculously created a market for industry, and lifted the whole nation to undreamed-of levels of production. Those who today attack labor forget these simple truths, but history remembers them.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, AFL-CIO Convention, Miami (11 Dec 1961)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, Detroit (23 Jun 1963)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

If a man hasn’t discovered something that he would die for, he isn’t fit to live.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Detroit (23 Jun 1963)

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change, Bethel Baptist Church (3 Dec 1959)

Dave — Sun, 01 Feb 2004 16:00:00 +0000

Freedom is not free.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Institute on Nonviolence and Social Change, Bethel Baptist Church (3 Dec 1959)
(Source)

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace (Nov 1967)

Dave — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 15:00:16 +0000

Ultimately, a genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Labor Leadership Assembly for Peace (Nov 1967)

Often quoted as "moulder of consensus."

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, Hold Street Baptist Church, Montgomery (5 Dec 1955)

Dave — Fri, 16 Mar 2012 11:53:53 +0000

You know my friends, there comes a time when people get tired of being trampled by the iron feet of oppression. […] We are not wrong, we are not wrong in what we are doing. If we are wrong, the Supreme Court of this nation is wrong. If we are wrong, the Constitution of the United States is wrong. And if we are wrong, God Almighty is wrong. If we are wrong, Jesus of Nazareth was merely a utopian dreamer that never came down to Earth. If we are wrong, justice is a lie, love has no meaning. And we are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until “justice runs down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) Mass Meeting, Hold Street Baptist Church, Montgomery (5 Dec 1955)

Quotation is from the Bible, Amos 5:24.

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, Santa Rita, Calif., (14 Jan 1968)

Dave — Tue, 02 Nov 2010 16:46:37 +0000

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, “Is it safe?” Expediency asks the question, “Is it is politic?” Vanity asks the question, “Is it is popular?” But Conscience asks the question, “Is it right?” 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.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Santa Rita, Calif., (14 Jan 1968)

Recording (at 10:22). King reused speech elements frequently. The same passage can be found in "Remaining Awake Through a Great Revolution", sermon at the National Cathedral, Washington, DC (31 Mar 1968).

King, Martin Luther -- Speech, Washington (26 Mar 1964)

Dave — Mon, 07 Dec 2009 12:48:55 +0000

Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, civil rights leader, social activist, preacher
Speech, Washington (26 Mar 1964)