In Honor of Martin Luther King Jr. – My favorite Quotes

Dr. King gave us so many inspirational words, speeches, and sentences.  His life and death were a testimony to his beliefs and his battles. We can honor him now by taking the time to stop, pause, and consider some of his words and allow them to sink-in and change our lives.

Here are some of my personal favorites – if you had to pick one that speaks to you, that you will meditate on, which will it be?

1. That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do what is right.
2. In the end, we will not remember the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
3. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor, it must be demanded by the oppressed.
4. We may have all come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.
5. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
6. We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.
7. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
8. Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude.
9. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
10. Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.
11. Live’s most persistent and urgent question is, “What are you doing for others?”
12. Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.
13. The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
14. Change does not roll in on the wheels if inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle.
15. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.
16. If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t r un then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.
17. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.
18. There cannot be deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
19. We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.
20. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
21. You can kill the dreamer, but you can’t kill the dream.
22. The time is always right to do what is right.

It’s in Dr. King’s honor that we remember his words and how he changed our world for the better.  Share the one that speaks to you?