“Your ultimate allegiance is not to the government, not to the state, not to nation, not to any man-made institution.”

— Martin Luther King Jr., "Paul's Letter to American Christians", Dexter Avenue Baptist Church (4 November 1956)

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.

See all 63 Martin Luther King Jr. quotes →

More from Martin Luther King Jr.

“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.

“We live in a country where the people own the Government and not in a country where the Government owns the people.”

— Winston Churchill

“It would be thought a hard Government that should tax its People one-tenth Part of their Time, to be employed in its Service.”

— Benjamin Franklin

“When I meet a government which says to me, "Your money or your life," why should I be in haste to give it my money?”

— Henry David Thoreau

“What counts in life is not the mere fact that we have lived. It is what difference we have made to the lives of others that will determine the significance of the life we lead.”

— Nelson Mandela