Martin Luther Quotes

If I lived in a Communist country today where certain principles dear to the Christian faith are suppressed, I believe I would openly advocate disobeying these anti-religious laws.

The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo.

Slaves do not always welcome their deliverers. They become accustomed to being slaves. They would rather gear those ills they have

Nonviolence is an imperative in order to bring about ultimate community.

The negro cannot win the respect of the white people of the south or the peoples of the world if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety.

The Negro cannot win the respect of his oppressor by acquiescing; he merely increases the oppressor's arrogance and contempt.

Through nonviolent resistance the Negro will be able to rise to the noble height of opposing the unjust system while loving the perpetrators of the system.

Violence is not the way.

If the Negro is to achieve the goal of integration, he must organize himself into a militant and nonviolent mass movement.

By nonviolent resistance, the Negro can also enlist all men of good will in his struggle for equality.

The ultimate solution to the race problem lies in the willingness of men to obey the unenforceable.

A riot is the language of the unheard. On blacks in America; address at Birmingham AL

Everyone has an opportunity to be great because everyone has an opportunity to serve.

The modern choice is between non-violence or non-existence.

I know that God is not going to willfully hurt us. Why there is suffering is the business of the Lord, but He never seems to give us more than we can bear.

There are more Negroes in jail with me than there are on the voting rolls.

To deny a man a job is to say that a man has no right to exist.

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

God is not merely interestd in the freedom of brown men, yellow men, red men and black men.He is interested in the freedom of the whole human race.

Every word and deed must contribute to an understanding with the enemy and release those vast reservoirs of goodwill which have been blocked by impenetrable walls of hate.

True sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one's soul.

It is my hope that as the Negro plunges deeper into the quest for freedom and justice he will plunge even deeper into the philosophy of non-violence.

We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights.

I've decided to stick with love.

The sooner our society admits that the Negro Revolution is no momentary outburst soon to subside into placid passivity, the easier the future will be for us all.

Make no mistake about those who call themselves anti Zionist are anti Semitic.

Too often an institution serves to bless the majority opinion. Today when too many move to the rhythmic beat of the status quo, whoever would be a Christian must be a nonconformist.

We as Christians have a mandate to be nonconformists.

The poor never get the job done they are sleepy.

And see ominous clouds of inferiority beginning to form in her little mental sky.

Mother Dear, one day I'm going to turn this world upside down." --From My Brother Martin, by Christine King Farris

[nonviolence] seeks to secure moral ends through moral means.

Lord help me to see M. L. King as M. L. King in his true perspective.

In Christ there is no East nor West.

We cannot be truly Christian people so long as we flaunt the central teachings of Jesus: brotherly love and the Golden Rule.

Is your heart right? If your heart isn't right, fix it up today.

It all boils down to the fact that we must never allow ourselves to become satisfied with unattained goals. We must always maintain a kind of divine discontent.

When I am commanded to love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs of my brothers.

We can't slow up because of our love for democracy and our love for America. Someone should tell Faulkner that the vast majority of the people on this globe are colored.

I have a dream... I have a dream today... And if America is to be a great nation this must become true.

Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?

I" cannot reach fulfillment without "thou." The self cannot be self without other selves. Self-concern without other-concern is like a tributary that has no outward flow to the ocean.

We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. So we decided to go through a process of self-purification.

Jesus recognized that love is greater than like.

Worship is as natural to the human family as the sing of the sun is to the cosmic order.

Some things are right, whether nobody sees you doing them or not.

I think that we've got to come to see this. The Negro is an American.

I imagine you already know that I am much more socialistic in my economic theory than capitalistic.

Capitalism started out with a noble and high motive, but like most human systems it fell victim to the very thing it was revolting against.

I never cease to wonder at the amazing presumption of much of white society, assuming that they have the right to bargain with the Negro for his freedom.