Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes About Justice

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  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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dream, Kings, Children

  Speech at Civil Rights March,Washington, D.C., 28 Aug. 1963

• We refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Believe, Justice, I Have A Dream Speech

  I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

• May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership... Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Integrity, Stress, Commitment

• Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a descending spiral ending in destruction for all. It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than win his understanding; it seeks to annihilate rather than to convert. Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Peace, Winning

  Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

• There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Life, Sad

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.67, Beacon Press

• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Kings, Struggle

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

• As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which 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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Healing, Sacrifice, Two

  Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.159, Beacon Press

• Law and order exist for the purpose of establishing justice and when they fail in this purpose they become the dangerously structured dams that block the flow of social progress.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Block, Order, Law

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.62, Beacon Press

• When our days become dreary with low hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Dark, Power, Night

  "Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967.

• History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Courage, Integrity, Destiny

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

• A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Men, Justice, Refuse

  Address on Courage, at Brown Chapel in Selma, Alabama, March 8, 1965.

• I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizens Councilor or the Ku Klux Klanner but the white moderate who is more devoted to order than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Block, Order

  Letter from Birmingham Jail, Alabama, 16 Apr. 1963, in Atlantic Monthly Aug. 1963, p. 81

• Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Justice, Demand

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.200, Beacon Press

• Whatever affects one directly affects all indirectly.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Kings, Destiny

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

• We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Justice, Water, I Have A Dream Speech

  I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

• And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the plight of the negro poor has worsened over the last twelve or fifteen years. It has failed to hear that the promises of freedom and justice have not been met. And it has failed to hear that large segments of white society are more concerned about tranquility and the status quo than about justice and humanity.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  White, America, Years

  "The Other America". Speech at Grosse Pointe High School, March 14, 1968.

• 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.

  Believe, Hard Work, Black And White

  "Secretary Zinke, we can't afford to ignore diversity" by Andre Perry, www.cnn.com. March 27, 2018.

• A Church that has lost its voice for justice is a Church that has lost its relevance in the world.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Voice, Justice, Church

• The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Lying, Commitment

  Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.17, Beacon Press

• 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.

  Morning, Justice, Brotherhood

• True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Life, Peace, Kings

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2007). “Dream: The Words and Inspiration of Martin Luther King, Jr”, p.55, Blue Mountain Arts, Inc.

• These are the times for real choices and not false ones. We are at the moment when our lives must be placed on the line if our nation is to survive its own folly. Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Real, Men, Justice

  Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

• I feel that non-violence is really the only way that we can follow because violence is just so self-defeating. A riot ends up creating many more problems for the negro community than it solved. We can through violence burn down a building, but you can't establish justice. You can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder through violence. You can murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. And what we're trying to get rid of is hate, injustice, and all of these other things that continue the long night of man's inhumanity to man.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Hate, Night, Men

• Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Wisdom, Peace, Kings

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

• Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Justice For All, People, Conflict

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