We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.
The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.
A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.
At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
We are not makers of history. We are made by history.
One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.
The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one.
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.
We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
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.
We must use time creatively.
Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.
Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.
The time is always right to do what is right.
Whatever your life's work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.
A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.