10 Martin Luther King Jr. Quotes to Help us Get Through These Next 4 Years

Today, many of us are given the day off in remembrance of the great man that Martin Luther King Jr. was. He was a champion for Civil rights, an icon in Black History/Culture, a leader, and a man that unified people of all colors under the umbrella of brotherhood.

This day is somewhat tarnished by the impending inauguration of Donald Trump on Thursday January 20. It’s almost ironic that in the same week we celebrate the birthday of a man resolute in racial equality and unification we are also expected to celebrate electing a person whose campaign has been built on divisiveness, immaturity, and pandering to racist sentiments.

As we look forward to these next 4 years with a mixture of anticipation and anxiety, the following 15 quotes spoken by Martin Luther King Jr. can help us shape our mindsets, actions, and future during this critical and trying period.

1. In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.
2. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
3. The time is always right to do what is right.
4. We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.
5. Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.
6. 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.
7. He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it.
8. Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
9. The fact is that capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor – both black and white, both here and abroad.” (This is not anti-capitalism, but next time you tell someone to simply work harder or stop being lazy, remember the origin of the capitalist system here in America)
10. Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
11. All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem. an is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.
12. Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’
13. We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools.
14. Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. I am not unmindful of the fact that violence often brings about momentary results. Nations have frequently won their independence in battle. But in spite of temporary victories, violence never brings permanent peace.
15. I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.

Read these quotes, study them, meditate upon them, internalize them, and let them guide you during these trying times. There has never been a more integral time for us to adapt, grow, and unify. Don’t let everything Martin Luther King Jr. built and preached waste away in vain. Resist the forces trying to take our country back to a period of racism, hatred, and divisiveness. Regardless of who sits as our Commander in Chief, we the people still have the moral and lawful duty to make sure that the values that we hold so dearly are upheld for everyone and social/economic progress is extended to everyone living in this country.