Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes That Will Inspire You to Live Your Best Life

1. Dark yesterday can be transformed into bright tomorrow.

2. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

3. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

4. I have decided to stick to love...Hate is too great a burden to bear. A Testament of Hope: The Essential Writings and Speeches

5. If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way

6. Let no man pull you so low as to hate him. A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

7. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred.

8. Lightning makes no sound until it strikes. Why We Can't Wait

9. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.

10. Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, "Love your enemies." It is this: that love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can’t stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they’ll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That’s love, you see. It is redemptive, and this is why Jesus says love. There’s something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So love your enemies. (from "Loving Your Enemies") A Knock at Midnight: Inspiration from the Great Sermons of Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr.

11. On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic? Vanity asks the question, is it popular? Conscience asks the question, is it right?There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do it because conscience tells him it is right.

12. There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.

13. Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.

14. We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

15. But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.

16. But today our very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. The large house in which we live demands that we transform this world-wide neighborhood into a world – wide brotherhood. Together we must learn to live as brothers or together we will be forced to perish as fools.We must work passionately and indefatigably to bridge the gulf between our scientific progress and our moral progress. One of the great problems of mankind is that we suffer from a poverty of the spirit which stands in glaring contrast to our scientific and technological abundance. The richer we have become materially, the poorer we have become morally and spiritually.

17. In some not too distant tomorrow the radiant stars of love and brotherhood will shine over our great nation with all their scintillating beauty. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

18. Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will. Lukewarm acceptance is much more bewildering than outright rejection. Why We Can't Wait

19. There is nothing more majestic than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for their freedom and dignity. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King, Jr.

20. Time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively. More and more I feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than have the people of good will. We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people. Human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability; it comes through the tireless efforts of men willing to work to be co-workers with God, and without this hard work, time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right. Why We Can't Wait

21. We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back. I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World

22. We must use time creatively - and forever realize that the time is always hope to do great things.