Martin Luther King Jr.

1929 - 1968

Martin Luther King Jr. was an American Baptist minister and civil rights activist known for his nonviolent struggle against racial segregation and racial inequality. He played a pivotal role in the American civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, leading to the end of legal segregation and the advancement of civil rights legislation that has shaped American society.

Only in the darkness can you see the stars.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But... the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?'

I've Been to the Mountaintop," speech, April 3, 1968

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Letter from Birmingham Jail, 1963

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

Strength to Love, p. 52, 1963

Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.

That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.

Strength to Love, 1963

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

Strength to Love, p. 64, 1963

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

Speech at St. Louis, Missouri, 1961