The Call: Famous Political Activism Quotes

I know there's a lot on here who want to see change made, to that end I think we need to look to the past. Feel free to add to this.

MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

Quote:

“Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.” "People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they have not communicated with each other." “Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.” "Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that." "Let no man pull you so low as to hate him." "That old law about 'an eye for an eye' leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing." “The limitation of riots, moral questions aside, is that they cannot win and their participants know it. Hence, rioting is not revolutionary but reactionary because it invites defeat. It involves an emotional catharsis, but it must be followed by a sense of futility.” "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." "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere." "Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude." “We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.” "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." "A man who won't die for something is not fit to live." “I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality. I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.” “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.” “If physical death is the price that I must pay to free my white brothers and sisters from a permanent death of the spirit, than nothing can be more redemptive.” "We must live together as brothers or perish together as fools." “Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.” “Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable… Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.” “Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.” “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 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." “If we are to go forward, we must go back and rediscover those precious values – that all reality hinges on moral foundations and that all reality has spiritual control.” “The question is no whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be… The nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.”

The Call: Famous Political Activism Quotes