Source: Library of Congress
Born on January 15, 1929, Martin Luther King, Jr. remains one of the most notable figures in American history due to his willingness to speak the truth in a world that wasn't quite ready to hear it. Despite being assassinated in Memphis on April 4, 1968, his legacy remains a powerful reminder of the changes that can happen when good men and women stand up together against forces that try to divide us.
Between winning the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality on October 14, 1964, and organizing two of the three marches from Selma to Montgomery, King was a prolific writer and speaker who encouraged brotherhood, love, and judging others based on the content of their character.
Here are a few quotes to remind us all of the legacy he left behind, as well as the approach we should all take in building a better world for our children and grandchildren:
1. "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."
2. "Keep feeling the need for being important. Keep feeling the need for being first. But I want you to be the first in love. I want you to be the first in moral excellence. I want you to be the first in generosity.”
3. “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
4. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
5. “We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.”
6. “There are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true, that they are worth dying for. And I submit to you that if a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
7. "Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in."
8. "Every nation must now develop an overriding loyalty to mankind as a whole in order to preserve the best in their individual societies."
9. "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."
10. "If we are to have peace on earth, our loyalties must become ecumenical rather than sectional. Our loyalties must transcend our race, our tribe, our class, and our nation; and this means we must develop a world perspective."