Martin Luther King Jr. 2021 inspirational quotes and photos

Martin Luther King Jr. 2021 inspirational quotes and photos

The United States of American has endured many challenges throughout it’s history, but one such challenge is to end racial oppression and to threat all human beings as equals. The presidency of Donald Trump capitalized on the unsettle divides of the Nation and gave voice to many supremacy groups that were thought to be a thing of the past. Making it very clear of how this is still a challenge that the United States has yet to overcome. The last four years has reminded many that honoring the memory Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is as significant and resounding today as it has ever been throughout history.

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was born on Jan. 15, 1929, led a non-violent resistance movement that brought about massive changes in American culture and paved the way for the end of segregation and expansion of human rights.

Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis, Tenn. on April 4, 1968 at the age of 39. His legacy is celebrated each year with the holiday named in his honor. MLK Day is a federal holiday, though it was not made official until 18 years after his assassination.

Here are some of the best quotes from and about Martin Luther King for MLK Day 2021:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

“Only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”

Martin Luther King Jr. addressing an audience at a voter rally in a wooded area in Alabama.
King traveled around Alabama the week before the 1966 May primaries to encourage voter participation in the upcoming election. His tour was mentioned in an article (‘King Criticizes Panthers’) on page 67 of the Birmingham News on April 27, 1966. Alabama Media GroupAlabama Media Group

“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.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”

Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and Andrew Young sitting behind the podium during a meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1967.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Ralph Abernathy, and Andrew Young sitting behind the podium during a meeting at Tabernacle Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama in 1967.

“So even though we face difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”

“We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”

The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., delivers his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in the auditorium of Oslo University in Norway on Dec. 10, 1964. King, the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace prize, is recognized for his leadership in the American civil rights movement and for advocating non violence. (AP Photo) ASSOCIATED PRESS
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., delivers his Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech in the auditorium of Oslo University in Norway on Dec. 10, 1964. King, the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace prize, is recognized for his leadership in the American civil rights movement and for advocating non violence. (AP Photo) ASSOCIATED PRESS

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

“We’ve learned to fly the air like birds. We’ve learned to swim the seas like fish. And yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth like brothers and sisters.”

Martin Luther King Jr., center, and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, third from left, share a laugh outside court in Decatur, Ga., Oct. 25, 1960. Others are unidentified. Andrew Young is seen at center, facing right. (AP Photo)
Martin Luther King Jr., center, and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, third from left, share a laugh outside court in Decatur, Ga., Oct. 25, 1960. Others are unidentified. Andrew Young is seen at center, facing right. (AP Photo) AP

“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. “

“Freedom must ring from every mountainside. And yes, let it ring from the snow-capped Rockies of Colorado. Let it ring from the prodigious hilltops of New Hampshire. Let it ring from the mighty Alleghenies of Pennsylvania. Let it ring from the curvaceous slopes of California. But not only that, from every mountainside, let freedom ring.”

Martin Luther King Jr., center, and Rev. Ralph Abernathy, third from left, share a laugh outside court in Decatur, Ga., Oct. 25, 1960. Others are unidentified. Andrew Young is seen at center, facing right. (AP Photo)
Unseen Civil Rights photos 63-3720 May 10, 1963 Kingwalker Dr. Martin Luther King and Rev. Wyatt Tee Walker announce an agreement with Birmingham businesses to desegregate certain services and jobs in the city. The leaders met with the media inside the courtyard of the A.G. Gaston Motel to make the announcement. Tom Self photo. 63-3720 Tom Self News conference at Gaston Motel 35mm May 10, 1963 ML King and Wyatt Tee Walker Black and White scan bn bn

“Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”

The March on Washington in 1963
** FILE ** In this Aug. 28, 1963, file photo the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. acknowledges the crowd at the Lincoln Memorial for his “I Have a Dream” speech during the March on Washington, D.C. Just 45 years since Martin Luther King declared his dream for a colorblind America, the Democratic presidential nomination is within the grasp of a black candidate, Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill. AP

“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.”

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”

Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. the day before he was shot in April 3, 1968.
Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr. is pictured walking across the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. at approximately the spot where he was shot by a hidden assassin. This picture was made, April 3, 1968, the day before the shooting, shortly after King arrived in Memphis. (AP Photo/Charles Kelly ) ASSOCIATED PRESS

“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.”

“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

Martin Luther King Jr.
FILE – This Oct. 24, 1966 file photo shows Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in Atlanta. Martin Luther King’s children are quarreling over who owns his Nobel Peace Prize and his Bible. Malcolm X’s heirs are suing to block a book deal to publicize his post-Mecca diary, an agreement brokered by one of their siblings. The fight over Rosa Parks’ estate has her valuable mementos stuck in a New York City warehouse. (AP Photo, File) AP

“The time is always ripe to do right.”

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

James Meredith and Martin Luther King
FILE – This June 25, 1966, file photo shows James Meredith, right, speaks with Dr. Martin Luther King after they met on U.S. 51 near Tougaloo, Miss. Dr. King had led a column of civil rights marchers from Tougaloo College to greet Meredith’s marchers walking in from Canton. “Walk Against Fear: James Meredith,” scheduled to air Thursday, Oct. 1, 2020, on the Smithsonian Channel, examines the life of a U.S. Air Force veteran-turn-human rights agitator whose admission into the University of Mississippi forced President John F. Kennedy to send federal troops into the state to quell a white supremacy uprising. (AP Photo, File) AP

“History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people.”

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do you have to keep moving forward.”

Coretta Scott King gives her husband Martin Luther King Jr. a kiss.
The Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. got a big kiss from his wife Coretta Scott King in 1956 after Circuit Court Judge Eugene Carter found him guilty of a conspiracy to boycott Montgomery city buses. King was the first of 90 Negroes tried in the racial bus boycott. The judge fined him $500 and suspended the fine pending appeal.

“If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way.”

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.”

Martin Luther King gets first aid in Harlem store after he was stabbed in 1958. Friends wrap finger, leave weapon sticking in chest. (Removal of weapon might have caused fatal hemorrhage)
Martin Luther King gets first aid in Harlem store after he was stabbed in 1958. Friends wrap finger, leave weapon sticking in chest. (Removal of weapon might have caused fatal hemorrhage)

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

“Everybody can be great… because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

“We will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”

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Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. arrested in Montgomery, Alabama.
1958 photo of Martin Luther King Jr. being arrested in Montgomery, Ala. (AP Photo/Charles Moore/Smithsonian) AP

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