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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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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.
Humanity
Morally
Society
Produces
True
Throwing
Restructure
Live
Demands
Beggars
Morality
Commanded
Demand
Coin
Compassion
Beggar
Produce
Coins

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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To have peace in the world, men & nations must embrace the nonviolent assertion that ends and means must cohere.
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We did not hesitate to call our movement an army. But it was a special army, with no supplies but its sincerity, no uniform but its determination, no arsenal except its faith, no currency but its conscience.
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The first principle of value that we need to rediscover is this: that all reality hinges on moral foundations. In other words, that this is a moral universe, and that there are moral laws of the universe just as abiding as the physical laws.
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There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.
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The church must be reminded that it is not the master, or the servant of the state, but rather the conscience of the state.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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To put it in the terms of St. Thomas Aquinas: An unjust law is a human law that is not rooted in eternal law and natural law.
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We have genuflected before the god of science only to find that it has given us the atomic bomb, producing fears and anxieties that science can never mitigate.
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My country, 'tis of thee, sweet land of liberty, of thee I sing. Land where my fathers died, land of the pilgrim's pride, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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In our society it is murder, psychologically, to deprive a man of a job or an income. You are in substance saying to that man that he has no right to exist. You are in a real way depriving him of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, denying in his case the very creed of his society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I must face the fact, as all others in positions of leadership must do, that America today is an extremely sick nation, and that something could well happen to me at any time. I feel, though, that my cause is so right, so moral, that if I should lose my life, in some way it would aid the cause.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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O America, how you've taken necessities from the masses to give luxuries to the classes.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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[I] know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Today, our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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A man can't ride your back unless it's bent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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But now I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation and this means we must develop a world perspective.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I've decided to stick with love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Science investigates religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge which is power religion gives man wisdom which is control.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Education without social action is a one-sided value because it has no true power potential.
Martin Luther King, Jr.