Quotes about Action
our slogan must not be "Burn, baby, burn." It must be, "Build, baby, build." "Organize, baby, organize." Yes, our slogan must be "Learn, baby, learn," so that we can earn, baby, earn.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Take the first step. You don't have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
It is not enough to say, 'We must not wage war.' It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Structures of evil do not crumble by passive waiting. If history teaches anything, it is that evil is recalcitrant and determined, and never voluntarily relinquishes its hold short of an almost fanatical resistance. Evil must be attacked by a counteracting persistence, by the day-to-day assault of the battering rams of justice.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
the words of President Kennedy, uttered on June 11, 1963, only a few months before his tragic death: "We are confronted primarily with a moral issue. It is as old as the Scriptures and is as clear as the American Constitution. The heart of the question is whether all Americans are to be afforded equal rights and equal opportunities . . . Those who do nothing are inviting shame as well as violence. Those who act boldly are recognizing right as well as reality.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
It was the Sermon on the Mount, rather than a doctrine of passive resistance, that initially inspired the Negroes of Montgomery to dignified social action. It was Jesus of Nazareth that stirred the Negroes to protest with the creative weapon of love. As
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Prayer is a marvelous and necessary supplement of our feeble efforts, but it is a dangerous substitute.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
No revolution is executed like a ballet. Its steps and gestures are not neatly designed and precisely performed.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
Everybody can be great because anybody can serve.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
No problem is solved when we idly wait for God to undertake full responsibility.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.
I will do everything in my power to make it so by outspoken agreement whenever proper, and determined opposition whenever necessary.
- Martin Luther King, Jr.