The sweltering summer of the Negro's legitimate discontent will not pass until there is an invigorating autumn of freedom and equality.Martin Luther King
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence of the good peopleMartin Luther King
One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.Martin Luther King
Discrimination is a hellhound that gnaws at Negroes in every waking moment of their lives to remind them that the lie of their inferiority is accepted as truth in the society dominating them.Martin Luther King
The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.Martin Luther King
If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, then nothing can be more redemptive.Martin Luther King
Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.Martin Luther King
The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be... The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.Martin Luther King
Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.Martin Luther King
There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breadth.Martin Luther King
I just want to do God's will. And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there with you, but I want you to know tonight that we as a people will get to the promised land.Martin Luther King
Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.Martin Luther King
The Negro needs the white man to free him from his fears. The white man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt.Martin Luther King
All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.Martin Luther King