Quotes by Martin Luther King Jr

My personal trials have also taught me the value of unmerited suffering. As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways that I could respond to my situation: either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course. Recognizing the necessity for suffering I have tried to make of it virtue. If only to save myself from bitterness, I have attempted to see my personal ordeals as an opportunity to transform myself and heal the people involved in the tragic situation, which now obtains. I have lived these last few years with the conviction that unearned suffering is redemptive.

Soyons ensemble comme des frères, si non nous allons perir ensemble comme des imbeciles.

A nation, that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift, is approaching spiritual death.

The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.

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'.

"Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."

When evil men plot, good men must plan. When evil men burn and bomb, good men must build and bind. When evil men shout ugly words of hatred, good men must commit themselves to the glories of love. Where evil men would seek to perpetuate an unjust status quo, good men must seek to bring into being a real order of justice.

We must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but it is a means by which we arrive at that goal... We must pursue peaceful ends through peaceful means.                                                                

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.