The oceans of history are made turbulent by the ever-rising tides of hateHistory is cluttered with the wreckage of nations and individuals that pursued that self-defeating path of hateLove is the key to the solution of the problems of the world Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Nobel Prize lecture, 11 December 1968
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 Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963
We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of living together as brothersOur abundance has brought us neither peace of mind nor serenity of spirit Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love, 1963
A law is unjust if it is inflicted on a minority that, as a result of being denied the right to vote, had no part in enacting or devising the lawWho can say that the legislature of Alabama which set up the state's segregation laws was democratically elect Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait, 1963
We did not hesitate to call our movement an armyBut 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 Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can't Wait, 1963
A fifth point concerning nonviolent resistance is that it avoids not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spiritThe nonviolent resister not only refuses to shoot his opponent but he also refuses to hate him Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958
The conservatives who say, "Let us not move so fast," and the extremists who say, "Let us go out and whip the world," would tell you that they are as far apart as the polesBut there is a striking parallel: They accomplish nothing; for they do not reach t Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Why We Can't Wait, 1963
[I]t must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resistIf one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolentThis is why Gandhi often said that Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958
I will always remember my delight when Mrs. Georgia Gilmore - an unlettered woman of unusual intelligence - told how an operator demanded that she get off the bus after paying her fare and board it again by the back door, and then drove away before she co Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., March 1956
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 restWhen asked after several weeks of walk Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story, 1958
[W]hen you first name becomes "nigger," your middle name becomes "boy" (however old you are), and your wife and mother are never given the respected title "Mrs."; when you are harried by day and haunted by night by the fact that you are a Negro... when yo Author:Martin Luther King, Jr., "Letter from Birmingham Jail," Why We Can't Wait, 1963
If you are neutral in situations of injustice, you have chosen the side of the oppressorIf an elephant has its foot on the tail of a mouse and you say that you are neutral, the mouse will not appreciate your neutrality Author:Bishop Desmond Tutu
The world is moved along, not only by the mighty shoves of its heroes, but also by the aggregate of tiny pushes of each honest worker Author:Helen Keller
I would remind you that extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice! And let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue Author:Barry Goldwater