Quotes from Martin Luther King, Jr.

I still believe that one day mankind will bow before the altars of God and be crowned triumphant over war and bloodshed, and nonviolent redemptive goodwill will proclaim the rule of the land.

We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war.

Riots are the voices of the unheard.

Non-violence is a powerful and just weapon. It is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and enobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

If a man is called to be a streetsweep-er, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.

I come not to bring negative peace, but I come to bring positive peace. I come not to bring this old peace which is merely the absence of tension; I come to bring a positive peace which is the presence of justice and the Kingdom of God. Peace is not merely the absence of something, but it's the presence of something.

Every man lives in two realms: the internal and the external. The internal is that realm of spiritual ends expressed in art, literature, morals, and religion. The external is that complex of devices, techniques, mechanisms, and instrumentalities by means of which we live.

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

I have condemned any organizer of war, regardless of his rank or nationality.

The choice is not between violence and nonviolence but between nonviolence and nonexistence.

We ain't goin' study war no more.

Those of us who love peace must organize as effectively as the war hawks. As they spread the propaganda of war, we must spread the propaganda of peace.