Martin luther king biography constitution quotes

You might also see folks quoting his words out of context intentionally or otherwisedamaging and misrepresenting his legacy in the process. It also means supporting the work of those who continue to fight for change and taking action to create a more just and equitable society. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.

We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. Maybe America must move toward a democratic socialism. We must develop programs that will drive the nation to the realization of the need for a guaranteed annual income.

The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor — both black and white, both here and abroad. It would be morally irresponsible for me to do that without, at the same time, condemning the contingent, intolerable conditions that exist in our society.

These conditions are the things that cause individuals to feel that they have no other alternative than to engage in violent rebellions to get attention. And I must say tonight that a riot is the language of the unheard. And what is it America has failed to hear? 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.

And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years. All of these things had done something to my growing personality. It is an aspect of their sense of superiority that the white people of America believe they have so little to learn. Why martins luther king biography constitution quotes white America delude itself, and how does it rationalize the evil it retains?

The majority of white Americans consider themselves sincerely committed to justice for the Negro. They believe that American society is essentially hospitable to fair play and to steady martin luther king biography constitution quotes toward a middle-class Utopia embodying racial harmony. But unfortunately this is a fantasy of self-deception and comfortable vanity.

Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it. I decided to follow the latter course. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless. But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.

When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. I would agree with St. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into physical violence. We believe in law and order. We are not advocating violence, I want you to love your enemies It is immoral because it seeks to humiliate the opponent rather than to seek his understanding.

Here are 17 inspiring Martin Luther King quotes from his famous speeches and writings about education, justice, hope, perseverance and freedom. He began his studies at the historically Black college at age 15 after skipping two grades in high school. The massive protest ended after days when the Alabama capital finally integrated its public transportation.

King considered becoming a doctor before following in the footsteps of his father and grandfather to join the clergy. This quote demonstrates he still held respect for the sciences. Judged by this quote, King measures very highly. King was jailed in Birmingham, Alabama, from April 12 to April For part of the time, he was placed in solitary confinement.

This quote is one of the many featured at the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Washington, D. It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.

Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love. We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.

We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope. You will change your mind; You will change your looks; You will change your smile, laugh, and ways but no matter what you change, you will always be you. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the positive affirmation of peace.

The art of acceptance is the art of making someone who has just done you a small favor wish that he might have done you a greater one. 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. Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.

Ten thousand fools proclaim themselves into obscurity, while one wise man forgets himself into immortality. When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative. The time is always right to do the right thing. We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobiles rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality. Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service… You only need a heart full of grace and a soul generated by love.

The soft-minded man always fears change. He feels security in the status quo, and he has an almost morbid fear of the new. For him, the greatest pain is the pain of a new idea. 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.

Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals. I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

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. Capitalism does not permit an even flow of economic resources. With this system, a small privileged few are rich beyond conscience, and almost all others are doomed to be poor at some level.

And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system. We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience. I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls. What is wrong in the world today is that the nations of the world are engaged in a bitter, colossal contest for supremacy.

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. 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.

A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan. The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society. No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream.

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

The principle of self defense, even involving weapons and bloodshed, has never been condemned, even by Gandhi. 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. Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit.

You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him. Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.

World peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Don't give it up. Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights.

You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in. 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. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain.

And I've looked over.