Today is the day we remember and celebrate the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
A visionary, an activist, an orator, a family man, a leader- Martin Luther King changed the paradigm of civil rights and African American history. His bravery and courage in a time of racial injustice was unfounded and paved the way for where we are today. May the dream live on not only on MLK Day but everyday. Here’s a look at 25 quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. that will instantly inspire you. Dream on!
Part I:
1. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
2. “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.”
3. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
4. “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.”
5. “Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”
6. “Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.”
7. “You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.”
8. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
9. “A lie cannot live.”
10. “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.”
11. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”
12. “Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.”
13. “In some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty.”
14. “We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.”
Part II
15. “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.”
16. “Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”
17. “Out of the mountain of despair, a stone of hope.”
18. “The time is always right to do what is right.”
19 “Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another.”
20. “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.”
21. “Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.”
22. “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
23. “Even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
24. “A right delayed is a right denied.”
25. “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”