50+ Inspiring Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes for MLK Day

There are only a few historical figures who had the power to move so many with so few words as Martin Luther King, Jr. Every year on the third Monday in January, the life and legacy of Dr. King is honored. Decades after his historic “I Have a Dream” speech, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s inspirational writings and words remain relevant today.

Honor MLK’s legacy with one of these inspiring historical messages from his sermons, letters and speeches. Show solidarity with Martin Luther King, Jr.’s words of hope, equality, courage, love, forgiveness and faith this holiday.

Inspirational MLK Quotes

• “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
• “Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.”
• “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
• “Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
• “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
• “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
• “The time is always right to do what is right.”
• “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
• “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.”
• “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”

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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

• “A lie cannot live.”
• “You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.”
• “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
• “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”
• “There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.”
• “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
• “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”
• “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
• “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
• “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
• “I am not interested in power for power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right and that is good.”

MLK Quotes for Instagram

• “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
• “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
• “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
• “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
• “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”
• “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
• “In some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
• “If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”
• “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
• “The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.”

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More Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes

• “The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”
• “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
• “Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.”
• “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.”
• “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”
• “I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother in law.”
• “Be a bush if you can’t be a tree. If you can’t be a highway, just be a trail. If you can’t be a sun, be a star. For it isn’t by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”
• “For when people get caught up with that which is right and they are willing to sacrifice for it, there is no stopping point short of victory.”
• “We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it really doesn’t matter with me now because I’ve been to the mountaintop… I’ve looked over 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.”
• “Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. Sayings

• “That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. 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.”
• “A right delayed is a right denied.”
• “There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.”
• “The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.”
• “We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will. And we shall continue to love you.”
• “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.”
• “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.”
• “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
• “There comes a time when people get tired of being pushed out of the glittering sunlight of life’s July and left standing amid the piercing chill of an alpine November.”
• “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
• “You know, a lot of people don’t love themselves. And they go through life with deep and haunting emotional conflicts. So the length of life means that you must love yourself. And you know what loving yourself also means? It means that you’ve got to accept yourself.”