Quotes and anectdotes from the wise to the foolish, and the courageous to the drunk
Martin Luther King, Jr. Activist
Gender: Male
Citizenship: United States
Born: Jan 15, 1929
Died: Apr 4, 1968
Martin Luther King Jr. was born in 1929 in Atlanta, Georgia. King, a Baptist minister and civil-rights activist, had a seismic impact on race relations in the United States, beginning in the mid-1950s.
Among his many efforts, King headed the Southern Christian Leadership Conference. Through his activism and inspirational speeches he played a pivotal role in ending the legal segregation of African-American citizens in the United States, as well as the creation of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
King received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964, among several other honors. He was assassinated in April 1968, and continues to be remembered as one of the most influential and inspirational African-American leaders in history.
At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
love
We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace.
peace & war
Darkness cannot drive out darkness only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate only love can do that.
forgiveness & love
Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.
faith
Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
peace
We are not makers of history. We are made by history.
history
A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.
death & men
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
love
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.
love
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
good
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.
art
A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.
death
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
love
The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.
equality & freedom
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.
life & work
All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.
work
That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.
time
Never forget that everything Hitler did in Germany was legal.
legal
Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.
knowledge, power, religion, science & wisdom
It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.
love, peace & war
Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
love
We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
courage & fear
Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
life
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.
good & power
There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.
life
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
faith
Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.
men, power & science