Powerful Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes to Remind You of His Message
They Still Ring True Today
More than 50 years have passed since Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was assassinated in Memphis, Tennessee, but his words are just as meaningful as they were during the peak of the Civil Rights Movement. The Civil Rights leader died at age 39, but his impact continues to this day. From his most famous “I Have a Dream” speech to his letter from a Birmingham jail, his message is truly timeless.
For many, the third Monday in January means a day off from work, but don’t let the anniversary of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday pass without reflecting on his words and his legacy. Of course, you don’t need a special day to take his inspirational quotes to heart. While you’re likely familiar with his unforgettable “I Have a Dream” speech from the 1963 March on Washington, there are so many more quotes and speeches to explore. It doesn’t take a holiday to think about these words and share them with your family: “The time is always right to do what is right.†And we could all use a reminder from this quote from the Nobel Prize Winner’s 1967 “Where Do We Go From Here?” address: “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.†Take these words to heart, and be grateful for Dr. King’s legacy.
Powerful Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes
“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. I have a dream today.
“Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.
“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.”The time is always right to do what is right.â€
“Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.
â€I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
“Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.
†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!’ “
“In some not too distant tomorrow, the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.â€
“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.â€
“There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.
†Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter to me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind. Like any man, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I’m not concerned about that now. I just want to do God’s will. And He’s allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I’ve looked over. And I’ve seen the promised land. I may not get there with you. But I want you to know tonight, that we, as a people will get to the promised land. And I’m happy, tonight. I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. My eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.â€
