Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty we are free at last.

Perhaps the worst sin in life is knowing right and not doing it

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

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

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.

If you lose hope, somehow you lose the vitality that keeps life moving, you lose that courage to be, that quality that helps you go on in spite of it all. And so today I still have a dream.

Occasionally in life there are those moments of unutterable fulfillment which cannot be completely explained by those symbols called words. Their meanings can only be articulated by the inaudible language of the heart.

I submit to you that if a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.

Courageous men never lose the zest for living even though their life situation is zestless; cowardly men, overwhelmed by the uncertainties of life, lose the will to live.

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 come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.

Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

Like the ever-changin cycle of the seasons, life has the soothing warmth of the summers and the piercing chill of its winters.

Capitalism is always in danger of inspiring men to be more concerned about making a living than making a life. 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 humanity-thus capitalism can lead to a practical materialism that is as pernicious as the materialism taught by communism.

There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.

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.

Happiness is the meaning and the purpose of life, the whole aim and end of human existence.

Those who educate children well are more to be honored than they who produce them; for these only gave them life, those the art of living well.

We make war that we may live in peace.

We live in deeds, not years; in thoughts, not breaths; in feelings, not in figures on a dial. We should count time by heart throbs. He most lives who thinks most, feels the noblest, acts the best.

The ultimate value of life depends upon awareness and the power of contemplation rather than upon mere survival.

The ideal man bears the accidents of life with dignity and grace, making the best of circumstances.

The happy life is regarded as a life in conformity with virtue. It is a life which involves effort and is not spent in amusement.

The energy of the mind is the essence of life.