Quotes of All Topics . Occasions . Authors
True wealth is not measured in money or status or power. It is measured in the legacy we leave behind for those we love and those we inspire.
Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.
We must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers .
Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.
Moral principles have lost their distinctiveness. For modern man, absolute right and absolute wrong are a matter of what the majority is doing.
If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi and nonviolence. But if your enemy has no conscience like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer.
Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love
We know of no more crucial civil rights issue facing Congress today than the need to increase the federal minimum wage and extend its coverage.
A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.
In some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.
He should sweep streets so well that all the host of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lives a great street-sweeper who did his job well'
Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children.
Freedom has always been an expensive thing. History is fit testimony to the fact that freedom is rarely gained without sacrifice and self-denial.
We are all tied together in a single garment of destiny . . . I can never be what I ought to be until you are allowed to be what you ought to be.
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
I have a dream, one dream, keep dreaming. Dream of freedom, justice dreaming, dreaming of equality and hopefully no longer required to dream them
Racial segregation must be seen for what it is, and that is an evil system, a new form of slavery covered up with certain niceties of complexity.
Capital punishment is against the best judgment of modern criminology and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.
Wherever schools can be integrated through the busing method, and where it won't be just a, a terrible inconvenience, I think it ought to be done.
I refuse to accept the idea that man is mere flotsam and jetsam in the river of life, unable to influence the unfolding events which surround him.
Love is the most durable power in the world. This creative force is the most potent instrument available in mankind's quest for peace and security.
Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from the fiction.
The movement for equality and justice can only be a success if it has both a mass and militant character; the barriers to be overcome require both.
God is not merely interestd in the freedom of brown men, yellow men, red men and black men.He is interested in the freedom of the whole human race.
Before it is too late, we must narrow the gaping chasm between our proclomations of peace and our lowly deeds which precipitate and perpetuate war.
We who engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.
If I wish to compose or write or pray or preach well, I must be angry. Then all the blood in my veins is stirred, and my understanding is sharpened.
I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you.
The hope of the world is still in dedicated minorities. The trail-blazers in human, scientific and religious freedom have always been in a minority.
A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.
There's something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies.
They were too God-intoxicated to be "astronomically intimidated." They brought an end to such ancient evils as infanticide and gladiatorial contest.
Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it.
Real education should consist of drawing the goodness and the best out of our own students. What better books can there be than the book of humanity?
In the final analysis it doesn't really matter what the political system is...We don't need perfect political systems; we need perfect participation.
We in the West must bear in mind that the poor countries are poor primarily because we have exploited them through political or economic colonialism.
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.
It is my hope that as the Negro plunges deeper into the quest for freedom and justice he will plunge even deeper into the philosophy of non-violence.
In the final analysis the weakness of Black Power is its failure to see that the black man needs the white man and the white man needs the black man.
What is at stake is human dignity. If a man is not accorded respect he cannot respect himself and if he does not respect himself, he cannot demand it.
We who in engage in nonviolent direct action are not the creators of tension. We merely bring to the surface the hidden tension that is already alive.
We've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven't learned to walk the earth as brothers and sisters
The more I thought about human nature, the more I saw how our tragic inclination for sin/mistakes causes us to use our minds to rationalize our action.
Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace.
Do not romanticize the poor...We are all people, human beings subject to the same temptations and faults as all others. Our poverty damages our dignity.
For years now I have heard the word "wait." It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This "wait" has almost always meant "never."
I have reached a point in my life where I understand the pain and the challenges; and my attitude is one of standing up with open arms to meet them all.
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.
An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.