Motivational Martin Luther King Quotes: Oh the words of Martin Luther King fill me with so much power and inspiration. This article is a collection of 8 such powerful quotes that get us off the edge of our seats. These are the people who shaped the course of our lives. And yet, they did the most valuable thing – motivated and inspired people to do something difficult. Maybe that’s why their words inspire us so much.
His contributions to humanity, creating a revolution are incredible. No wonder the Nobel committee recognised this immensely powerful man who gives us the motivation to fight for what’s right. In this article, I want to talk about a few motivational Martin Luther King quotes to inspire us into action. (More about Martin Luther)
Martin Luther king motivational quotes
These motivational quotes touch upon various facets such as faith, love, compassion, passion and desire to change the world. The main message I’d like to impress through these quotes is that – it is hard to stay true to our character. The true test lies in knowing who we are, what we stand for and trying to adhere to these personal values no matter how difficult the challenges are. It won’t be easy, but that’s perhaps why it is all worth it!
These quotes reflect Martin Luther King Jr.’s profound beliefs in equality, justice, love, and the power of nonviolent protest. His words continue to inspire and resonate with people around the world.
- “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.”
- “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
- “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
- “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.”
- “Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
- “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
- “The time is always right to do what is right.”
- “Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”
- “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice.”
- “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase – Martin Luther King
What is faith? It is a belief, the drive, the inspiration and the hope for us to be in action, to work on our goals, dreams and aspirations. Faith is the lifeblood, the juice that drives us, the enthusiasm that constantly keeps us hungry, and the aspiration to persevere when things go down. This is a fantastic inspirational quote by Martin Luther King – you can read more about the quote analysis for faith is taking the first step in this related link.
Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that – Inspirational Words by Martin Luther King
Weakness cannot lead you out of weakness! You need strength to break the shackles of desperation. We cannot rely on our weak perceptions to take action, they never let us get there. They never goad us into action. If we need results, we need action and above all, it is our life and we need complete control over it. And that control is not by weakness, it is standing up to the odds and telling yourself what you are made up of. You can read more about this quote analysis – Darkness cannot drive out darkness in the dedicated article.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity – Martin Luther King quotes
This quote might sound a bit sharp, but perhaps equally necessary. Sometimes, silence is probably the worst killer of all voices! This reminds me of the words from Napoleon: There are hundreds of reasons why we don’t act upon something. These can be rationalizations we give ourselves. But deep down, the only person we need to satisfy is ourselves. This quote reminds me of another powerful one – Whether you do something or not, you’re still responsible!
The ultimate measure of man is where he stands in moments of challenge and controversy
We are at our best when things happen as per the plan, and our expectations. And we all are very lavish with praise too and perfect gentlemen when things are happening the way we want them. But the moment when something goes wrong, I bet that is the moment of truth. And most times at these moments of truth, we are worried as to what people around us might think of us. But that is your reputation, not your character. And it is just your reputation. What matters the most is what you think of yourself?
The time is always right to do what is right – Martin Luther King motivational quotes
When is the best time to do something right? Is it tomorrow? Is it a week later from now? Or is it the new year when we are all set to make resolutions? When is the right time? If your answer is anything but now, then perhaps you are missing out on what Martin Luther King Jr is saying. There is never something called a perfect situation or a perfect solution. Give an opportunity for the natural course of action, the time will always be wrong. There will be some or the other challenge. If you wait for the right time, chances are that you might never find it. You must do it now, it is now or it is never, and for the right thing, the delay is its worst enemy.
Forgiveness is not an occasional Act, it is a permanent Attitude – Martin Luther quotes
I am sure that we all are tired of the good old cliche – ‘Be quick to forgive and slow to anger. It takes immense patience and a different attitude to look away when you’ve been wronged. But I don’t think we need to look away – Forgiveness is not about the person but about the behaviour. If the person is bad, then there’s no point in them being in our lives. The nice part about these motivational Martin Luther King quotes is that when you adapt to your life – it can be attuned to your current life. Forgiveness is not at the cost of an expensive mistake. We ought to raise what is right and stand for it. But we can certainly forgive the person, condone the behaviour and move on. Life is too precious to hold on to grudges.
If you can’t fly then run, walk or crawl – but keep moving forward
This quote is a cornerstone of the motivational Martin Luther King quotes collection. I like this quote for its power to get us off our comfort zone to start moving forward. Ultimately, life is about progress from one stage to another. Our problems cannot be blockers but only aid to move us ahead. You have a purpose in life, you have a goal, a dream, an aspiration, the drive to do something. The truth is – sometimes we are so hung up on the means that we forget the ends. If something doesn’t work, there are a hundred other things that will. We need to keep our eyes straight on the target and the rest will meekly follow.
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Most of the quotes you have quoted are my favourites since I read them. Martin Luther King…! Thanks Vinay for keeping us inspired!
TC! Keep smiling :)
Thank you Sindhoo. I loved writing about each one of these quotes, so simple, so elegant and above all so inspiring.. Martin Luther King sure is one hell of a persona :)
Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase is a hallmark for all of us. I’m in agreement with almost of the above quotes. It is for this reason that he was able to influence a great majority of people.
A very motivating and inspiring post Vinay.
Thank you Fayaz. I think that’s probably my favourite one in the list, That and the last one which says if you cant fly, run.. There’s something so powerful about each one of these quotes, something that pushes me out of the bed and makes me really want to get started. Speech sure is a great motivator :).
Hi Vinay, a very inspiring one again :)….I have a question on it…in
the lines (in ur fourth point above), by taking the all the
responsibilities 100%,do u mean, whatever is the task, u need to take
it, when all ur colleagues escape to do it?….cos, I sometimes do not
accept to do work, when I cannot complete it on time, due to lot of
other duties to me, which i am supposed to complete immediately…so
when, i do not accept it, do u mean, i am escaping from
responsibilities?…for example, I have five assignments to complete for
tomorrow morning without fail….but today evening,my higher official,
calls two of us ( me and my colleague) and n gives a work to be
completed by tomorrow morning and will ask as to, who can do it amongst u
both?…at that time, I know that it is very hard to me to do it by
tomorrow morning, and I keep quite and think a lot to accept
it…by both of our silence at that moment, my higher official calls the
third one (another colleague), and says il give it to her then…at that time, my
colleague, who was silent when asked to do it alone, said, yes mam, I’l do
it along with her…then, I felt that, she is smart n she is a senior in the work environment too….at that moment I thought, there is no requirement of more
than two people for the job to be completed by tomorrow…so, I just
kept quite…but somewhere I felt, did I do wrong, by not accepting to
do the work?…Did I not act smart like my other colleague, who
immediately accepted to work with the other one?….Did my higher
official feel that, I am escaping from the responsibility?…and do you
feel that, I am trying to be in a comfort zone n not taking up
challenges? according to your fourth point here….
see now, I am reading ur post :)…but within this hour, I could have done that :P…but I
still did not accept it yesterday, cos, I had so many work to finish by today
morning….also yesterday evening, I had very high degree of headache
and thought I want to sleep one hour extra, to complete all my five
assignments with a good quality (I mean by doing it upto the mark) for
today…So, I did not want to take up the 6th one and do all the 5
assignments just for the sake and also do the 6th one again just for the
sake of doing it and be unhappy that I did not do anything
correctly…aBy accepting that, the pressure would have increased on me
and my head ache would have increased more and due to high level of
stress, my quality of work would have been affected for rest of the five
assignments too…so, now do u say, that I am escaping form taking up
challenges?
Now I am reading ur post, cos, my headache is gone,
and I have completed most of my assignments…but I did not know yesterday that, my
headache would be gone by today morning…cos, sometimes it will stay longer if I stress my sleep with out sufficient sleep….so, I did not accept work immediately
yesterday…so what do you say?
Thank you shylaja :).. I think this is a very valid question and a very valid set of emotions you are going through. Especially in a work environment, when you are surrounded by people who are doing it for the sake of doing it. I am completely with you and I really feel for the plight you go through.
Having said that – I am afraid that in most cases we are surrounded by such people who do not want to take responsibilities cos it means work. But that doesn’t mean we take the responsilbility for them and not taking the fall for their faults.
We will be faced by these challenges every now and then. And these challenges will have consequences too. We certainly cannot own up to every fault there is but we can for the ones where we can make a difference. In this case, I think you were absolutely right in turning down the 6th project cos you knew what you were doing, you knew the time constraint and you finished the rest on time.
This way – you proved what you are capable of and more importantly you proved that you delivered everything you accepted on time.
Maybe a deft way of telling your senior was that you would finish these 5 first in the order of priority and then pick up the last one. You could say that it is too hard to commit right now and you would want to stick to your word when you say something. That way you are establishing that you are a person of your word which establishes a great degree of responsibility.
The unfortunate part is that we are surrounded by ‘yes men’. People say yes even if they don’t do anything. But in the end – the truth is – your actions are going to speak a lot for you.
Talk to your senior, tell him how interested you were to pick up the 6th one. Tell him that you didnt cos you didnt want to disappoint him. Ask him for his suggestion – ask him how to manage time and improve your capacities. This shows that you are not taking up the project cos you are serious about it and not for the sake of it which will certainly be respected at a higher order.
I hope this answers the question. Please let me know if it doesn’t. Happy to discuss further :)
Hey thanks for such a thoughtful suggestion Vinay :)
Glad it helped Shylaja :)..
I just love it how you’ve explained the last quote ! Martin Luther is no doubt the best inspiring humanitarian for so many out there including me ! Loved every bit of this blog post!
Thank you Najm. I simply loved the last one – the perpetual motion towards achievement of our purposes. Mighty powerful indeed.
I’m completely with you. he’s perhaps one of the most powerful humanitarians at that part of the century and words are filled with fire.
Very good article enjoyed it.
Thank you Kanuj :)
Amazing post Vinay, no matter how much you read about Martin Luther, you will still find something unique in every new post…
Thank you Alok.. Martin Luther is certainly a very inspiring man. I am intrigued to know more about him and to read more about him and his works and of course his speech will keep ringing on my mind for a long time :)