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January 17, 2024
I Have a Dream
Photo by Julian Wasser; Credit: Encyclopedia Britannica
We celebrated Martin Luther King, Jr. Day this Monday to commemorate the life and work of Dr. King. He worked tirelessly for freedom, justice, and equality for all people. This January 15 was his 95th birthday.
He was an activist, pastor, and writer and left many inspiring quotes. Some of these quotes are engraved at the Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial in Washington D.C.
"Out of the mountain of despair, stone of hope."
From the "I Have A Dream" speech in Washington, DC on August 28, 1963
"Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice, say that I was a drum major for peace, I was a drum major for righteousness, and all the other shallow things will not matter."
From his sermon on February 4, 1968 in Atlanta.
"We shall overcome because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."
Washington National Cathedral, March 31, 1968
"Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that."
Strength to Love, 1963
"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."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964
"Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
March for Integrated Schools, April 18, 1959
"I oppose the war in Vietnam because I love America. I speak out against it not in anger but with anxiety and sorrow in my heart, and above all with a passionate desire to see our beloved country stand as a moral example of the world."
Anti-War Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 26, 1967
"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."
Christmas sermon, Atlanta, Georgia, 1967
"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."
Letter from Birmingham, Alabama jail, April 16, 1963
"I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits."
Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech, Oslo, Norway, 1964
"It is not enough to say 'We must not wage war.' It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but the positive affirmation of peace."
Anti-War Conference, Los Angeles, California, February 25, 1967
"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."
Strength to Love, 1963
"Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies."
New York City, April 4, 1967
"We are determined here in Montgomery to work and fight until justice runs 'down like water, and righteousness like a mighty stream.'"
Montgomery, Alabama, December 5, 1955
"We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience."
Montgomery, Alabama, March 25, 1965
"True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
Stride Toward Freedom, 1958
"We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
Washington, D.C., February, 1968
"Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude."
Strength to Love, 1963
"Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"
Montgomery, Alabama, 1957
"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."
Spelman College, 1960
"I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."
Southern Christian Leadership Conference, Atlanta, Georgia, 1967
References:
https://www.nps.gov/mlkm/learn/quotations.htm
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