Martin Luther King Quotes

Martin Luther King's collection of the most iconic quotations and thoughts.


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 decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.


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.


Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase.


Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.


In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.


Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.


The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.


Take the first step in faith. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.


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.


About Martin Luther King:
Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968), was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.

King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama, that attracted national attention following television news coverage of the brutal police response. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.