25 Powerful Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

 25 Powerful Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and activist who became the most visible spokesperson and leader in the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.

“If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, 'brethren!' Be careful, teachers!”  

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

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

"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." 

“One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong."

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

"I have a dream 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."

“If we are not careful, our colleges will produce a group of close-minded, unscientific, illogical propagandists, consumed with immoral acts. Be careful, 'brethren!' Be careful, teachers!”  

"We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope."

"Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals." 

"Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

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

"We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

"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."

“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.” 

"The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold."

"If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective."

"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." 

"I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems."

"We must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future.”

"If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

"There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”