Assassinated on April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. will be remembered for exemplary civil work and of course his ‘I Have a Dream’ speech. King was a Baptist minister and an activist leader in the Civil Right Movements. He got into college at age 15, held a PhD, received a Nobel Peace Prize and there is a holiday kept in his honor. He was arrested 29 times and was the target of several assassination attempts. He fought to get African American equal rights, and on a lighter note, was a chain smoker and a Trekkie.
So let’s commemorate a great life with 10 of that exceptional man’s inspirational quotes.
2. King became a civil rights activist early in h
is career. He led the 1955 Montgomery bus
boycott and helped found the Southern Ch
ristian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1
957, serving as its first president. With the
SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 stru
ggle against segregation in Albany, Georgi
a (the Albany Movement), and helped orga
nize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmin
gham, Alabama. King also helped to organi
ze the 1963 March on Washington, where
he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream"
speech. There, he established his reputatio
n as one of the greatest orators in America
n history.
3. FAITH IS TAKING THE FIRST STEP EVE
N WHEN YOU CAN'T SEE THE WHOLE
STAIRCASE.
4. IF YOU CAN'T FLY THEN RUN, IF YOU C
AN'T RUN THEN WALK, IF YOU CAN'T
WALK THEN CRAWL, BUT WHATEVER
YOU DO YOU HAVE TO KEEP MOVING
FORWARD.
5. NO ONE REALLY KNOWS WHY THEY A
RE ALIVE UNTIL THEY KNOW WHAT TH
EY'D DIE FOR.
6. DARKNESS CANNOT DRIVE OUT DARK
NESS: ONLY LIGHT CAN DO THAT. HAT
E CANNOT DRIVE OUT HATE: ONLY LO
VE CAN DO THAT.
7. OUR LIVES BEGIN TO END THE DAY W
E BECOME SILENT ABOUT THINGS TH
AT MATTER.
8. NOTHING IN THE WORLD IS MORE DAN
GEROUS THAN SINCERE IGNORANCE
AND CONSCIENTIOUS STUPIDITY.
10. OUR SCIENTIFIC POWER HAS OUTRUN
OUR SPIRITUAL POWER. WE HAVE GU
IDED MISSILES AND MISGUIDED MEN.
11. PEOPLE FAIL TO GET ALONG BECAUS
E THEY FEAR EACH OTHER; THEY FEA
R EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY DON'T
KNOW EACH OTHER; THEY DON'T KN
OW EACH OTHER BECAUSE THEY HAV
E NOT COMMUNICATED WITH EACH O
THER.