Martin Luther King Jr. Reveals the Meaning of Love in Rare Handwritten Letter (2024)

"Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God." "Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education." "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice." "Let no man pull you so low as to hate him." "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.” "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of convenience and comfort, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy." “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.” “One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong." "Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity." "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.” "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." "We will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope." "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred." "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." "We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right." "There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.” "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly." "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." "The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold." "Violence is immoral because it thrives on hatred rather than love...violence ends up defeating itself. It creates bitterness in the survivors and brutality in the destroyers." References