Quotations of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

"There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society, with a large segment of people in that society, who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that they have nothing to lose. People who have a stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it."

"I am convinced that if we are to get on the right side of the world revolution, we as a nation must undergo a radical revolution of values. We must rapidly begin the shift from a thing-oriented society to a person-oriented society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights, are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered." from "Beyond Vietnam," an address delivered to the Clergy and Laymen Concerned about Vietnam, at Riverside Church, New York City on April 4, 1967

"A time comes when silence in betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world....
Some of us who have already begun to break the silence of the night have found that the calling to speak is often a vocation of agony, but we must speak. We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak. For we are deeply in need of a new way beyond the darkness that seems so close around us....
We must move past indecision to action. If we do not act, we shall surely be dragged down the long, dark, and shameful corridors of time reserved for those who possess power without compassion, might without morality, and strength without sight. Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves in the long and bitter, but beautiful struggle for a new world...." from "Beyond Vietnam"

“The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood”.

"He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetuate it."

“Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

“Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”

"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."

"Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." from  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," April 16, 1963

"Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." from "Strength to Love," 1963

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

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

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

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