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Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path of racial justice.

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.
Rise
Path
Gradualism
Justice
Sunlit
Dark
Desolate
Time
Segregation
Valley
Racial
Valleys

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Just as it is the duty of all men to obey just laws, so it is the duty of all men to disobey unjust laws.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I would rather be a man of conviction than a man of conformity
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I question and soul-search constantly into myself to be as certain as I can that I am fulfilling the true meaning of my work, that I am maintaining my sense of purpose, that I am holding fast to my ideals, that I am guiding my people in the right direction.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I would not hesitate to say that it is unfortunate that so-called demonstrations are taking place in Birmingham at this time, but I would say in more emphatic terms that it is even more unfortunate that the white power structure of this city left the Negro community with no other alternative.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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What are you doing for others?
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of the white society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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As we have seen, the first public expression of disenchantment with nonviolence arose around the question of 'self-defense.' In a sense this is a false issue, for the right to defend one's home and one's person when attacked has been guaranteed through the ages by common law.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience... But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The Christian faith makes it possible for us nobly to accept that which cannot be changed, and to meet disappointments and sorrow with an inner poise, and to absorb the most intense pain without abandoning our sense of hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Without God, all of our efforts turn to ashes and our sunrise into the darkest of nights.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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If we get setbacks and if something happens where the Civil Rights Bill is watered down, for instance, if the Negro feels that he can do nothing but move from one ghetto to another and one slum to another, the despair and the disappointment will be so great that it will be very difficult to keep the struggle disciplined and nonviolent.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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In spite of the fact that the law of revenge solves no social problems, men continue to follow its disastrous leading. History is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued this self-defeating path.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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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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The strong man is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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This is the unusual thing about nonviolence -- nobody is defeated, everybody shares in the victory.
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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Oppressed people cannot remain oppressed forever. The yearning for freedom eventually manifests itself.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I would be the last to condemn the thousands of sincere and dedicated people outside the churches who have labored unselfishly through various humanitarian movements to cure the world of social evils, for I would rather a man be a committed humanist than an uncommitted Christian.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Capital punishment is against the best judgment of modern criminology and, above all, against the highest expression of love in the nature of God.
Martin Luther King, Jr.