Life's piano can only produce melodies of brotherhood (and sisterhood) when it is recognized that the black keys are as basic, necessary and beautiful as the white keys.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Man is not made for the state; the state is made for man. To deprive man of freedom is to relegate him to the status of a thing, rather than elevate him to the status of a person. Man must never be treated as a means to the end of the state, but always as an end within himself.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.We still have a choice today: nonviolence coesistence or violent coannihilation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Once you become dedicated to a cause, personal security is not the goal. What will happen to you personally does not matter. My cause, my race, is worth dying for.
Martin Luther King, Jr.There is little hope for us until we become tough-minded enough to break loose from the shackles of prejudice, half-truths, and down-right ignorance.
Martin Luther King, Jr.We all can't be famous but we can all be great and we become great when we serve others
Martin Luther King, Jr.Science investigates, religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power, religion gives man wisdom which is control. Science deals mainly with facts, religion deals with values. The two are not rivals. They are complementary.
Martin Luther King, Jr.In every age and every generation, men have envisioned a promised land. Some may have envisioned it with the wrong ideology, with the wrong philosophical presupposition. But men in every generation thought in terms of some promised land.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Now let me say that the next thing we must be concerned about if we are to have peace on earth and good will toward men is the nonviolent affirmation of the sacredness of all human life. Every man is somebody because he is a child of God.
Martin Luther King, Jr.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?'
Martin Luther King, Jr.My parents would always tell me that I should not hate the white man, but that it was my duty as a Christian to love him.
Martin Luther King, Jr.There is nothing in all the world greater than freedom. It is worth paying for; it is worth going to jail for. I would rather be a free pauper than a rich slave. I would rather die in abject poverty with my convictions than live in inordinate riches with the lack of self respect.
Martin Luther King, Jr.The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles o popular opinion; it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.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
Martin Luther King, Jr.I am not interested in power for power's sake, but I'm interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.
Martin Luther King, Jr.For you all think God is one who rewards good and punishes evil, but I say to you that God is one who loves you and has compassion for everyone. You just have to pray to Him and believe in Him. He will always be your guiding light.
Martin Luther King, Jr.We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifices. Capitalism was built on the exploitation of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor, both black and white, both here and abroad.
Martin Luther King, Jr.We can walk through the darkest night with the radiant conviction that all things work together for the good.
Martin Luther King, Jr.But alas! Science cannot now rescue us, for even the scientist is lost in the terrible midnight of our age. Indeed, science gave us the very instruments that threaten to bring universal suicide.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Love is understanding, redemptive goodwill for all men, so that you love everybody.
Martin Luther King, Jr.If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Wisdom born of experience should tell us that war is obsolete. There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil force If we assume that life is worth living, if we assume that mankind has the right to survive, then we must find an alternative to war.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Personality is like a charioteer with two headstrong horses, each wanting to go in different directions.
Martin Luther King, Jr.In this world is a God whose matchless strength is a fit contrast to the sordid weakness of man.
Martin Luther King, Jr.If a man hasn't found anything worth dying for, he hasn't anything worth living for.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Love is creative, understanding goodwill for all men. It is the refusal to defeat any individual.
Martin Luther King, Jr.The old law of an eye for an eye leaves everyone blind. It destroys communities and makes humanity impossible. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers... In winning our freedom, we will so appeal to you heart and conscience that we will win you in the process.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Alienation is a form of living death. It is the acid of despair that dissolves society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.A true revolution of values will see that the western arrogance of feeling that it has everything to teach others and nothing to learn from them is not just.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Everybody can be great, because everybody can serve. [...] You only need a heart full of grace.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Five score years ago, a great American, in whose symbolic shadow we stand today signed the Emancipation Proclamation. This momentous decree came as a great beacon light of hope to millions of Negro slaves who had been seared in the flames of withering injustice. It came as a joyous daybreak to end the long night of their captivity. But one hundred years later, we must face the tragic fact that the Negro is still not free.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.
Martin Luther King, Jr.If the cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. Because the goal of America is freedom, abused and scorned tho' we may be, our destiny is tied up with America's destiny.
Martin Luther King, Jr.Segregation...not only harms one physically but injures one spiritually...It scars the soul...It is a system which forever stares the segregated in the face, saying 'You are less than...''You are not equal to...'
Martin Luther King, Jr."I criticize America because I love her. I want her to stand as a moral example to the world."
Martin Luther King, Jr.