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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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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.
Take
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Hallowed
Real
Luxury
Cooling
Make
Drug
Urgency
Time
Promise
Fierce
Democracy
Promises
Also
Engage
America
Spot
Tranquilizing
Come
Remind
Gradualism

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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We still have a choice today: nonviolence coesistence or violent coannihilation.
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School takes 13 years, because that is how long it takes to break a child's spirit.
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The major problem of life is learning how to handle the costly interruptions. The door that slams shut, the plan that got sidetracked, the marriage that failed. Or that lovely poem that didn't get written because someone knocked on the door.
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The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy.
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The early Christians rejoiced when they were deemed worthy to suffer for what they believed. In those days the Church was not merely a thermometer that recorded the ideas and principles o popular opinion it was a thermostat that transformed the mores of society.
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A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right.
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For years now I have heard the word wait. It rings in the ear of every Negro with a piercing familiarity. This wait has almost always meant never.
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The reason I can't follow the old eye-for-an-eye philosophy is that it ends up leaving everyone blind.
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We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there is such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and postive action.
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 majority of the Negroes who took part in the year-long boycott of Montgomery's buses were poor and untutored but they understood the essence of the Montgomery movement one elderly woman summed it up for the rest. When asked after several weeks of walking whether she was tired, she answered: My feet is tired, but my soul is at rest.
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Even though I have never had an abrupt conversion experience, religion has been real to me and closely knitted to life. In fact the two cannot be separated religion for me is life.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
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Whatever your life's work is, do it well.
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A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.
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The thing that we need in the world today, is a group of men and women who will stand up for right and be opposed to wrong, wherever it is. A group of people who have come to see that some things are wrong, whether they’re never caught up with. Some things are right, whether nobody sees you doing them or not.
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Call it democracy, or call it democratic socialism, but there must be a better distribution of wealth within this country for all God's children.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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There are always those who say legislation can't solve the problem. There is a half-truth involved here. It is true that legislation cannot solve the whole problem. It can solve some of the problem. It may be true that morality can't be legislated, but behavior can be regulated.
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Babies, we are told, are the latest news from heaven.
Martin Luther King, Jr.