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Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was an American pastor, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement who fought by using nonviolent civil disobedience and his Christian beliefs. He was a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence and his most famous speech is his “I Have A Dream” speech. The iconic speech was delivered when King organized the 1963 March on Washington. On April 4, in 1968, King was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee. King’s birthday was on January 15th, but America celebrates his birthday as a floating holiday on the third Monday of January each year. This year it takes place on January 19, 2015.
To honor King on this holiday, have a look at some of his best and most inspirational quotes, starting with one from his famous “I Have A Dream” speech below.
I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, and every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.
The reason I can’t follow the old eye-for-an-eye philosophy is that it ends up leaving everyone blind.
Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
The ultimate test of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and moments of convenience, but where he stands in moments of challenge and moments of controversy.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
When we let freedom ring, when we let it ring from every village and every hamlet, from every state and every city, we will be able to speed up that day when all of God’s children, black men and white men, Jews and Gentiles, Protestants and Catholics, will be able to join hands and sing in the words of the old Negro spiritual, ‘Free at last! Free at last! Thank God Almighty, we are free at last!’
Faith is taking the first step, even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
I often feel like saying, when I hear the question ‘People aren’t ready,’ that it’s like telling a person who is trying to swim, ‘Don’t jump in that water until you learn how to swim.’ When actually you will never learn how to swim until you get in the water. And I think people have to have an opportunity to develop themselves and govern themselves.
In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
Let no man pull you low enough to hate him.
Let us all hope that the dark clouds of racial prejudice will soon pass away and the deep fog of misunderstanding will be lifted from our fear-drenched communities, and in some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.