Happy Birthday Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: 30 Inspirational Quotes
On this day, 52 years ago, A KING WAS BORN. Happy Birthday to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. A minister and activist, Dr. King was probably the most visible spokesperson and leader during the Civil Rights Movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968.
To celebrate his birthday, here are 30 of my favorite quotes (in no particular order) from Dr. King. What is your favorite MLK quote?
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
“A riot is the language of the unheard.”
“Free at last, Free at last, Thank God almighty we are free at last.”
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
“We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
“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.”
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
“A lie cannot live.”
“Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
“He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.”
“There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”
“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
“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.”
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
“No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.”
“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
“Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
“No person has the right to rain on your dreams.”
“You will change your mind; You will change your looks; You will change your smile, laugh, and ways but no matter what you change, you will always be you.”
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. ”
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
“Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”
