“Whenever racial discrimination exists it is a tragic expression of man's spiritual degeneracy and moral bankruptcy.”

— Martin Luther King Jr., "The Rising Tide of Racial Consciousness," National Urban League (6 September 1960)

About Martin Luther King Jr.

1929 – 1968

American Baptist minister and civil rights activist whose leadership was instrumental in the American civil rights movement. His words on justice, love, and courage endure as moral touchstones.

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“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

— Martin Luther King Jr.

“The unexamined life is not worth living.”

— Socrates

“It is unlikely that the good of a snail should reside in its shell: so is it likely that the good of a man should?”

— Epictetus

“In theory there is nothing to hinder our following what we are taught; but in life there are many things to draw us aside.”

— Epictetus

“If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels had been churches, and poor men's cottages princes' palaces.”

— William Shakespeare

“That which makes the man no worse than he was makes his life no worse: it has no power to harm, without or within.”

— Marcus Aurelius

“Always take the short cut; and that is the rational one. Therefore say and do everything according to soundest reason.”

— Marcus Aurelius

“Whenever racial discrimination exists it is a tragic expression of man's spiritual degeneracy and moral bankruptcy.”

About Martin Luther King Jr.

More from Martin Luther King Jr.

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