Quotes by Martin Luther King

“If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.”

“A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.”

“Take the first step in faith. You dont have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.”

“Morality cannot be legislated but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.”

“Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness.”

“Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of ones soul.”

“In this Revolution no plans have been written for retreat.”

“Psychological freedom, a firm sense of self-esteem, is the most powerful weapon against the long night of physical slavery.”

“Right defeated is stronger than evil triumphant”

“Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.”

“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”

“I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions. This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream -- a dream yet unfulfilled. A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few; a dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a mans skin determines”

“If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.The Trumpet of Conscience”

“Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.”

“When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love.”

“Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”

“The face of the enemy frightens me only when I see how much it resembles me”

“A flatterer is a secret enemy”

“The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral; returning violence with violence only multiplies voilence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”

“everyone can be great because everyone can serve”