Martin Luther King Jr.

I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made straight and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed and all flesh shall see it together.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

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. That's the way the system works. And since we know that the system will not change the rules, we are going to have to change the system.

We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

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.

If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

Since being in India, I am more convinced than ever before that the method of nonviolent resistance is the most potent weapon available to oppressed people in their struggle for justice and human dignity.

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

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

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

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.

The hottest place in Hell is reserved for those who remain neutral in times of great moral conflict.

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.

To other countries, I may go as a tourist, but to India, I come as a pilgrim.