Martin Luther King Jr. stands today as a larger-than-life figure who fought successfully for civil rights, and also who impacted Americans with words that resonate decades later.
Here are seven memorable quotes from King about life:
1. “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
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2. “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”
3. “True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.” – From his speech “Vietnam Now” in 1967,
quoted by Democracy Now.
4. “PRINCIPLE ONE: Nonviolence is a way of life for courageous people. It is active nonviolent resistance to evil. It is aggressive spiritually, mentally and emotionally.” – From King’s Six Principles in his book “Stride Toward Freedom.”
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5. “We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.” – Also from King’s “Vietnam Now” speech.
6. “Not everybody can be famous but everybody can be great, because greatness is determined by service.” – From “The Drum Major Instinct,” King’s last sermon before he was assassinated in 1968.
7. “We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.” –From his acceptance speech for a Nobel Peace Prize.
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