Quote

Being a Negro in America means trying to smile when you want to cry. It means trying to hold on to physical life amid psychological death. It means the pain of watching your children grow up with clouds of inferiority in their mental skies. It means having their legs off, and then being condemned for being a cripple.

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.
Trying
Grow
Legs
Cripples
Life
Grows
Mental
Amid
Pain
Sky
Inferiority
Means
Cry
Skies
Death
Smile
Condemned
America
Watching
Negro
Children
Physical
Psychological
Mean
Hold
Clouds
Cripple

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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There is some good in the worst of us, and some evil in the best of us.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The modern choice is between non-violence or non-existence.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We have guided missiles and misguided men.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that a system that produces beggars needs to be repaved. We are called to be the Good Samaritan, but after you lift so many people out of the ditch you start to ask, maybe the whole road to Jericho needs to be repaved.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Never before have I written so long a letter. I'm afraid it is much too long to take your precious time. I can assure you that it would have been much shorter if I had been writing from a comfortable desk, but what else can one do when he is alone in a narrow jail cell, other than write long letters, think long thoughts, and pray long prayers?
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Never, never be afraid to do what's right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Negro leaders sought to negotiate with the city fathers. But the political leaders consistently refused to engage in good-faith negotiation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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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.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Nonviolent action, the Negro saw, was the way to supplement, not replace, the progress of change. It was the way to divest himself of passivity without arraying himself in vindictive force.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Millions of citizens are deeply disturbed that the military-industrial complex too often shapes national policy, but they do not want to be considered unpatriotic.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The failures of the past must not be an excuse for the inaction of the present and the future.
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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I may not be the man I want to be I may not be the man I ought to be I may not be the man I could be I may not be the man I truly can be but praise God, I'm not the man I once was
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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As the weeks and months unfolded, we realized that we were the victims of a broken promise.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Lightning makes no sound until it strikes.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus' thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and evil in the universe.
Martin Luther King, Jr.