Quote

As I like to say to the people in Montgomery: The tension in this city is not between white people and Negro people. The tension is, at bottom, between justice and injustice, between the forces of light and the forces of darkness.

Martin Luther King, Jr.

Change background

T
T
T

Change font

TAGS & TOPICS

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.
Justice
Negro
White
Tension
Force
Injustice
Black
Forces
Light
Bottom
Like
City
People
Darkness
Cities
Montgomery

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

Image
We ain't goin' study war no more.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
The truth may hurt, but love helps ease the pain.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
So when Jesus says Love your enemies, he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
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.
Image
We must shift the arms race into a 'peace race'.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
The road to freedom is a difficult, hard road. It always makes for temporary setbacks.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
Some people are so worn down by the yoke of oppression that they give up.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
We must stand up and say, I'm black and I'm beautiful, and this self-affirmation is the black man's need, made compelling by the white man's crimes against him.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
The way of acquiescence leads to moral and spiritual suicide. The way of violence leads to bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers. But, the way of nonviolence leads to redemption and the creation of the beloved community.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
The poor in our countries have been shut out of our minds and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
Through nonviolent resistance the Negro will be able to rise to the noble height of opposing the unjust system while loving the perpetrators of the system.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war... Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
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.
Image
The whirlwinds of revolt will continue to shake the foundations of our nation until the bright day of justice emerges.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
If a city has a 30% Negro population, then it is logical to assume that Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any particular company, and jobs in all categories rather than only in menial areas.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
The end of violence or the aftermath of violence is bitterness. The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation and the creation of a beloved community. A boycott is never an end within itself. It is merely a means to awaken a sense of shame within the oppressor but the end is reconciliation, the end is redemption.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Image
My parents would always tell me that I should not hate the white man, but that it was my duty as a Christian to love him.
Martin Luther King, Jr.