Eleven quotes from Martin Luther King

What peace-lovers must do

Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”
― Martin Luther King, Jr., I Have a Dream: Writings and Speeches That Changed the World

Spiritual doom

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.”

― Martin Luther King, Jr.

The greatest purveyor of violence

The greatest purveyor of violence in the world : My own Government, I cannot be Silent.”

Betrayal

There comes a time when silence is betrayal.”

― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Moral crisis

I agree with Dante, that the hottest places in hell are reserved for those who, in a period of moral crisis, maintain their neutrality”

― Martin Luther King, Jr.

True compassion

“On the one hand we are called to play the good Samaritan on life’s roadside; but that will be only an initial act. One day we must come to see that the whole Jericho road must be transformed so that men and women will not be constantly beaten and robbed as they make their journey on life’s highway. True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar; it is not haphazard and superficial. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.

― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Racism, materialism and militarism

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.”

― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Scientific vs moral progress

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.”

― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Individual vs collective concerns

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.”
― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Live for others

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
― Martin Luther King, Jr.

Inhumane health care

Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane.”
― Martin Luther King, Jr.

See also: http://dearkitty1.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/memphis-workers-honour-martin-luther-king/
http://hiphopandpolitics.wordpress.com/2013/04/04/45-years-ago-today-dr-martin-luther-king-was-killed-by-the-us-government/