Quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

The greatness of man cannot be seen in the hours of comfort and convenience, but rather in moments of conflict/adversity.

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

If a man hasn't found anything worth dying for, he hasn't anything worth living for.

All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.

Segregation is the adultery of an illicit intercourse between injustice and immorality.

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.

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.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: 'If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?' But...the good Samaritan reversed the question: 'If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?

But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough, can you see the stars.

On the one hand we are called to play the Good Samaritan on life's roadside, but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho Road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life's highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

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.