10 Martin Luther King Quotes to Live by

On what would have been Reverend Martin Luther King Jr’s 85th birthday, we wanted to pay tribute to his life and legacy with inspirational quotes that still hold great meaning. Martin Luther King’s life may have been cut short, but his messages of peace, love and acceptance still impact society not only in the United States but throughout the world. His words continue to teach us that striving for good and fighting peacefully for what you believe in is a natural human right.

This January 20th marks Martin Luther King Day, a celebration of a life dedicated to equality and human rights. He has left a print on the world that will never be extinguished. We are proud to commemorate this great American hero by listing some of our favorite Martin Luther King quotes.

Quotes to live by:

1. I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.

2. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

3. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.

4. 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.

5. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.

6. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

7. Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.

8. The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people.

9. The quality, not the longevity, of one's life is what is important.

10. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. This is the interrelated structure of reality.

11. When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.

12. Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

13. We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.

14. One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.

15. We are not makers of history. We are made by history.

16. 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.

17. In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

18. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

19. A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.

20. Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

This Martin Luther King 2014 sit back and take a moment to reflect on what is truly important and the liberties that we so often take for granted. What are your favorite MLK quotes? How do they inspire you to fight for the causes you believe in? We want to know!

We hope our favorite 20 Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes will motivate you this January 20th and always!