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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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.
Age: 39 †
Born: 1929
Born: January 15
Died: 1968
Died: April 4
Civil Rights Advocate
Human Rights Activist
Humanitarian
Leader
Minister
Pacifist
Pastor
Peace Activist
Politician
Preacher
Theologian
Atlanta
Georgia
MLK
Martin Luther King
Dr. King
Michael King
Michael King Jr.
M.L. King
Martin Luther
Jr. King
Martin Luther King
Jr.
Suffering
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Inevitable
Individual
Toward
Individuals
Change
Steps
Requires
Exertions
Human
Progress
Passionate
Tireless
Humans
Struggle
Concern
Automatic
Work
Justice
Neither
Exertion
Every
Passion
Hero
Owners
Goal
Sacrifice
Dedicated

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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My friends, all I'm trying to say is that if we are to go forward today, we've got to go back and rediscover some mighty precious values that we've left behind. That's the only way that we would be able to make of our world a better world, and to make of this world what God wants it to be and the real purpose and meaning of it.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We decided to set our direct-action program around the Easter season, realizing that, with exception of Christmas, this was the largest shopping period of the year. Knowing that a strong economic withdrawal program would be the by-product of direct action.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact...that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance We've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven't learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust ... is in reality expressing the highest respect for law ... We will not obey your evil laws.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We were not unmindful of the difficulties involved. So we decided to go through a process of self-purification.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Segregation...not only harms one physically but injures one spiritually...It scars the soul...It is a system which forever stares the segregated in the face, saying 'You are less than...''You are not equal to...'
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I became convinced that noncooperation with evil is as much a moral obligation as is cooperation with good.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I may be crucified for my beliefs and, if I am, you can say, He died to make men free.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Knowledge is a process of piling up facts wisdom lies in their simplification.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I hate it when people quote me on the internet, claiming I said things that I never actually said.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It all boils down to the fact that we must never allow ourselves to become satisfied with unattained goals. We must always maintain a kind of divine discontent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Nonviolent resistance makes it possible for the Negro to remain in the South and struggle for his rights. The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It is a cruel injustice to tell a bootless man to pull himself up by his bootstraps.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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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.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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True compassion is more than throwing a coin to a beggar. It demands of our humanity that if we live in a society that produces beggars, we are morally commanded to restructure that society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we will not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience. And he has now reached the day when violence toward another human being must become as abhorrent as eating another's flesh.
Martin Luther King, Jr.