A man can’t ride your back unless it’s bent.

When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

I want to be the white man’s brother, not his brother-in-law.

True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.

Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness.

Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.

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

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.

A right delayed is a right denied.

The moral arc of the universe bends at the elbow of justice.

We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

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

If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.

Whatever career you may choose for yourself – doctor, lawyer, teacher – let me propose an avocation to be pursued along with it.

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.

Civilization and violence are antithetical concepts.

Cowardice asks the question, ‘Is it safe?’ Expediency asks the question, ‘Is it politic?’ Vanity asks the question, ‘Is it popular?’ But, conscience asks the question, ‘Is it right?’ And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular but one must take it because one’s conscience tells one that it is right.

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

There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will.

I have a dream that one day little black boys and girls will be holding hands with little white boys and girls.

I was not afraid of the words of the violent, but of the silence of the honest.

Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever.

Means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.

Without justice, there can be no peace.

We must shift the arms race into a ‘peace race’.

Music is the best consolation for a despaired man.

Be the peace you wish to see in the world!

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

In a sense, songs are the soul of a movement.

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

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.

 I look forward confidently to the day when all who work for a living will be one with no thought to their separateness as Negroes, Jews, Italians or any other distinctions.

This will be the day when we bring into full realization the American dream – a dream yet unfulfilled.

A dream of equality of opportunity, of privilege and property widely distributed; a dream of a land where men will not take necessities from the many to give luxuries to the few;

A dream of a land where men will not argue that the color of a man’s skin determines the content of his character;

 A dream of a nation where all our gifts and resources are held not for ourselves alone, but as instruments of service for the rest of humanity; the dream of a country where every man will respect the dignity and worth of the human personality.

As my sufferings mounted I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course.

I just want to do God’s will. And he’s allowed me to go to the mountain. And 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.

Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.

Every man of humane convictions must decide on the protest that best suits his convictions, but we must all protest.

I subject myself to self-purification and to endless self-analysis; I question and soul-search constantly into myself to be as certain as I can that I am fulfilling the true meaning of my work, that I am maintaining my sense of purpose, that I am holding fast to my ideals, that I am guiding my people in the right direction.

But whatever my doubts, however heavy the burden, I feel that I must accept the task of helping to make this nation and this world a better place to live in – for all men, black and white alike.

The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be… The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.

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.

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

One has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.