Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes About Protest

• An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Motivational, Respect, Kings

  "Letter from Birmingham Jail," 16 Apr. 1963

• 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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Direct Action, Alive, Surface

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

• If you will protest courageously, and yet with dignity and Christian love, when the history books are written in future generations, the historians will have to pause and say, "There lived a great people-a black people-who injected new meaning and dignity into the veins of civilization.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Christian, Book, Civilization

  Jim Haskins, James Haskins, Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1992). “I have a dream: the life and words of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Millbrook Pr

• If I lived in China or even Russia, or any totalitarian country, Maybe I could understand some of these illegal injunctions. ... But somewhere I read of the freedom of assembly. Somewhere I read of the freedom of speech. Somewhere I read of the freedom of the press. Somewhere I read that the greatness of America is the right to protest for right.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Country, Greatness, Russia

  I've Been to the Mountaintop, delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee

• I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good. No other person has been more eloquent and passionate in getting this idea across than Henry David Thoreau. As a result of his writings and personal witness, we are the heirs of a legacy of creative protest.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Writing, Ideas, Evil

• One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Religious, Responsibility

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.60, Beacon Press

• 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

• We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Struggle, Police Violence, Discipline

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

• We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience... But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Years, Justice, Alternatives

  Jim Haskins, James Haskins, Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1992). “I have a dream: the life and words of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Millbrook Pr

• I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Evil, Cooperation, Moral

• With all of its false assumptions and evil methods, communism grew as a protest against the hardships of the underprivileged. Communism in theory emphasized a classless society, and a concern for social justice, though the world knows from sad experience that in practice it created new classes and a new lexicon of injustice.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Wisdom, Practice, Class

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1964). “A Martin Luther King Treasury”

• The only weapon that we have in our hands this evening is the weapon of protest. That's all.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Hands, Weapons, Evening

  Martin Luther King, Jr.'s Speech at MIA Mass Meeting at Holt Street Baptist Church, kinginstitute.stanford.edu. December 5, 1955.

• Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Suits, Conviction, Protest

  "The trumpet of conscience".

• We aren't engaged in any negative protest and in any negative arguments with anybody. We are saying that we are determined to be men. We are determined to be people. We are saying that we are God's children. And that we don't have to live like we are forced to live.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Determination, Children, Men

  I've Been to the Mountaintop, delivered 3 April 1968, Mason Temple (Church of God in Christ Headquarters), Memphis, Tennessee

• There is a more excellent way, of love and nonviolent protest.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Way, Excellent

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.97, Beacon Press

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