Martin Luther King, Jr. Rights Quotations

President Lyndon Johnson's high spirits were marked as he circulated among the many guests whom he had invited to witness an event he confidently felt to be historic, the signing of the 1965 Voting Rights Act.... The bill that lay on the polished mahogany desk was born in violence in Selma, Alabama, where a stubborn sheriff... had stumbled against the future.

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.

Had it not been for the ministry of my good friend Dr. Billy Graham, my work in the civil rights movement would not have been as successful as it has been.

The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die

Without justice, there can be no peace.

The strong man is the man who can stand up for his rights and not hit back.

We have waited for more than three hundred and forty years for our constitutional and God-given rights.

The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.

We are out to defeat injustice and not white persons who may be unjust.

It is precisely because education is the road to equality and citizenship, that it has been made more elusive for Negroes than many other rights. The walling off of Negroes from equal education is part of the historical design to submerge him in second class status. Therefore, as Negroes have struggled to be free they have had to fight for the opportunity for a decent education.

The failures of the past must not be an excuse for the inaction of the present and the future.

Evil must be attacked by. . . the day to day assault of the battering rams of justice.

In the current struggle, there is one positive course of action. There is no alternative, for the alternative would connote a rear march...

In this Revolution, no plans have been written for retreat. Those who will not get into step will find that the parade has passed them by....

My friends, I must say to you that we have not made a single gain in civil rights without determined legal and nonviolent pressure.

Never, never be afraid to do what's right.

Nonviolent resistance makes it possible for the Negro to remain in the South and struggle for his rights. The Negro's problem will not be solved by running away.

Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the struggle for equal rights.

We know of no more crucial civil rights issue facing Congress today than the need to increase the federal minimum wage and extend its coverage.

In our glorious fight for civil rights, we must guard against being fooled by false slogans, such as 'right-to-work.' It provides no 'rights' and no 'works.' Its purpose is to destroy labor unions and the freedom of collective bargaining…. We demand this fraud be stopped.

Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.