In order to be true to one's conscience and true to God, a righteous man has no alternative but to refuse to cooperate with an evil system. Martin Luther King, Jr. More Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. More Quotes From Martin Luther King, Jr. I've told the kids in the ghettos that violence won't solve their problems, but then they ask me, and rightly so; "Why does the government use massive doses of violence to bring about the change it wants in the world?" After this I knew that I could no longer speak against the violence in the ghettos without also speaking against the violence of my government. Martin Luther King, Jr. ghettogovernmentkids The SILENCE of the good people is more DANGEROUS than the BRUTALITY of the bad people Martin Luther King, Jr. brutalitysilencepeople Where evil men would seek to perpetuate Martin Luther King, Jr. realmenorder Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it. Martin Luther King, Jr. marriagelovelife Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. Martin Luther King, Jr. difficultwalkspainful It is better to be the recipient of violence than the inflicter of it, since the latter only multiplies the existence of violence and bitterness in the universe, while the former may develop a sense of shame in the opponent, and thereby bring about a transformation and change of heart. Martin Luther King, Jr. opponentsheartmay What I'm saying to you this morning is that Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the Kingdom of Brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of Communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. Martin Luther King, Jr. brotherhoodjusticemorning We must see the great distinction between a reform movement and a revolutionary movement. We are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society . . . . What America must be told today is that she must be born again. The whole structure of American life must be changed. Martin Luther King, Jr. reformmovementamerica I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls. Martin Luther King, Jr. girldreamboys Jesus is not an impractical idealist; he is the practical realist. Martin Luther King, Jr. realistidealistjesus We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good people. Martin Luther King, Jr. angerintegritycharacter Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Martin Luther King, Jr. wisdomkingspeace Every crisis has both its dangers and its opportunities. Each can spell either salvation or doom. Martin Luther King, Jr. salvationdangeropportunity Violence brings only temporary victories; violence, by creating many more social problems than it solves, never brings permanent peace. Martin Luther King, Jr. creatingvictoryviolence And so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream. It is a dream deeply rooted in the American dream. Martin Luther King, Jr. dreamfacestoday In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns. To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives. Martin Luther King, Jr. hatewarpeace The profit motive, when it is the sole basis of an economic system, encourages a cutthroat competition and selfish ambition that inspires men to be more concerned about making a living than making a life. Martin Luther King, Jr. selfishambitionmen The contemporary tendency in our society is to base our distribution on scarcity, which has vanished, and to compress our abundance into the overfed mouths of the middle and upper classes until they gag with superfluity. If democracy is to have breadth of meaning, it is necessary to adjust this inequity. It is not only moral, but it is also intelligent. We are wasting and degrading human life by clinging to archaic thinking. Martin Luther King, Jr. intelligentclassthinking If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream. Martin Luther King, Jr. moving-ondreaminspiring Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential. Social action without education is a weak expression of pure energy. Deeds uninformed by educated thought can take false directions. When we go into action and confront our adversaries, we must be as armed with knowledge as they. Our policies should have the strength of deep analysis beneath them to be able to challenge the clever sophistries of our opponents. Martin Luther King, Jr. true-powerexpressionclever
