Martin Luther King Jr.
Baptist minister and civil rights leader, 1929–1968. 2 explained quotes.
King's answer to clergymen who called him an outside agitator. Because all communities are tied together, he argued, he had every right to be in Birmingham.
Read the full explanation →A promise that justice wins in the long run, even when progress is slow. King's compact wording condenses a longer image from an abolitionist sermon of 1853.
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About Martin Luther King Jr.
Martin Luther King Jr. was the best-known leader of the American civil rights movement from the Montgomery bus boycott of 1955 until his assassination in Memphis in April 1968. A Baptist minister with a doctorate in theology, he built the movement’s strategy around nonviolent protest and won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964.
King was trained as a preacher, and his speeches and writings draw on the King James Bible, American founding documents and the rhythms of the Black church. Many of his most famous lines were refined over years of sermons, which is why similar phrases appear in several of his speeches, and why careful sourcing matters when quoting him.
More lines by Jr.
Short quotes checked against their sources.
- “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”Strength to Love, 1963