15 Inspiring Quotes from Dr. King

It was in 1983 that President Reagan signed a bill creating a federal holiday (the third Monday each January) to honor Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., though it was first observed three years later. However it wasn't until 2000 when all of the 50 U.S. states officially observed the holiday. Prior to 2000, either resistance or the move to combine the King holiday with other state observances would come from Arizona, Virginia, South Carolina and New Hampshire.

photo courtesy of History.com

Today you've probably heard the holiday positioned as the King Day of Service, encouraging citizens to use the day to offer volunteer services in some way (such as helping to feed the homeless or pitching in to clean up a park) in the spirit of Dr. King. This certainly is just but one meaningful initiative to support his legacy and help rally others to make a difference. It's difficult to succinctly sum up the impact Dr. King has made on this country, and the world. So I honor Dr. King by highlighting just a sampling of powerful messages and words of inspiration that he first shared decades ago. For it is the meaning in his chosen words that live on today and hopefully still touch generations for years to come.

1. "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."

2. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is 'what are you doing for others'?"

3. "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."

4. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

5. "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."

6. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."

7. "Science investigates; religion interprets. Science gives man knowledge, which is power; religion gives man wisdom, which is control. Science deals mainly with facts; religion deals mainly with values. The two are not rivals."

8. "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

9. "We must rapidly begin the shift from a 'thing-oriented' society to a 'people-oriented' society. When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism and militarism are incapable of being conquered."

10. "The day we see the truth and cease to speak is the day we begin to die."

11. "Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health care is the most shocking and inhumane."

12. "We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers."

13. "It does not matter how long you live, but how well you do it."

14. "A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus, but a molder of consensus."

15. "We must use time creatively -- and forever realize that the time is always hope to do great things."


--Tom Quash