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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.

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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.
Self
Affirmation
Need
Crimes
Must
Compelling
Needs
Crime
Made
Stand
Men
White
Black
Beautiful

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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We are not makers of history. We are made by history.
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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
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Now let us begin. Now let us rededicate ourselves to the long and bitter, but beautiful, struggle for a new world. This is the calling of the sons of God, and our brothers wait eagerly for our response. Shall we say the odds are too great? Shall we tell them the struggle is too hard?
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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With all of its false assumptions and evil methods, communism grew as a protest against the hardships of the underprivileged. Communism in theory emphasized a classless society, and a concern for social justice, though the world knows from sad experience that in practice it created new classes and a new lexicon of injustice.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I know that God is not going to willfully hurt us. Why there is suffering is the business of the Lord, but He never seems to give us more than we can bear.
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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Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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If I were constantly worried about death, I couldn't function. After a while, if your life is more or less constantly in peril, you come to a point where you accept the possibility philosophically.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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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.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Without hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the primitive forces of social stagnation. So we must help time and realize that the time is always ripe to do right.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Brutality was imprisoned in a lumious glare revealing the naked truth to the whole world
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The more there are riots, the more repressive actin will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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It is appalling that the most segregated hour of Christian America is eleven o'clock on Sunday morning.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I would rather be a man of conviction than a man of conformity
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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If you can't fly then run, if you can't run then walk, if you can't walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The negro cannot win the respect of the white people of the south or the peoples of the world if he is willing to sell the future of his children for his personal and immediate comfort and safety.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Our age is one of guided missiles and unguided men.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Returning hate, adding deeper darkness to a night that is already void of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Martin Luther King, Jr.