I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slaveowners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood; 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.
As you press on for justice, be sure to move with dignity and discipline, using only the weapon of love. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. Always avoid violence. If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in your 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.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.
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.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
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.
Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.
There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.
The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea.
Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
The good neighbor looks beyond the external accidents and discerns those inner qualities that make all men human and therefore, brothers.
In the end, it's not the words of our enemies we will remember, but the silence of our friends.
One who condones evils is just as guilty as the one who perpetrates it.
Freedom is not free.
Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
True peace is not merely the absence of tension; It is the presence of justice.
The church must be reminded that it is not the master or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.
Will we march only to the music of time, or will we, risking criticism and abuse, march to the soul-saving music of eternity?
Every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. Each can spell either salvation or doom.
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
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.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
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.
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, and forever realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
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.
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 a man hasn't discovered something that he would die for, he isn't fit to live.
WIST is my collection of quotations I find meaningful, moving, amusing (intended or not), well-phrased, and/or to which I just say I "Wish I'd Said That." But just because I quote it here doesn't mean I actually agree with it. If you have any comments, corrections, or suggestions, please don't hesitate to
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