Today we celebrate the life of trailblazing civil rights activist, Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. As we continue to work toward his mission to become “a more perfect union”, his words about freedom and equality resonate with us.

And, don’t forget that January 15th is the MKL Day of Service. Read our post for volunteer opportunities.

So, in honoring Martin Luther King, we offer these soul-stirring quotes on hope and freedom:

Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
—Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963

Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a better person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.
—March for Integrated Schools, 1959

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
—Letter from a Birmingham Jail, 1963

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.
—Speech at Cornell College, 1962

A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.
—The Domestic Impact of the War in Vietnam, 1967

True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.
—Stride Toward Freedom, 1957

We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of Now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy.
—I Have a Dream, 1963