Quotes By Martin Luther King Jr

We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal."

it is wrong to urge an individual to cease his efforts to gain his basic constitutional rights because the quest may precipitate violence. Society must protect the robbed and punish the robber.

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate or for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice or for the extension of justice?

I have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. I have a dream that one day, right down in Georgia and Mississippi and Alabama, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to live together as brothers.

There are those who are asking the devotees of civil rights, "When will you be satisfied?" We can never be satisfied as long as the Negro is the victim of the unspeakable horrors of police brutality.

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

It is better to suffer in dignity than to accept segregation in humiliation.

The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.

The time has come for an all-out world war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed.

We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody that is far superior to the discords of war.

A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.

The Civil Rights Act of 1964 gave Negroes some part of their rightful dignity, but without the vote it was dignity without strength.

Be concerned about your brother. You may not be on strike. But either we go up together, or we go down together.

When people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.

All we say to America is, "Be true to what you said on paper."

I happen to be a pacifist but if I had had to make a decision about fighting a war against Hitler, I may have temporarily given up my pacifism and taken up arms.

I'd like somebody to mention that day, that Martin Luther King, Jr., tried to give his life serving others.

Nobody is unhappy when they are praised, even if they know they don't deserve it and even if they don't believe it. The only unhappy people about praise is when that praise is going too much toward somebody else. But everybody likes to be praised because of this real drum major instinct.