15 Quotes From Martin Luther King Jr. On Leadership

Martin Luther King Jr. was a man before his time. Because of this, he changed the world. He saw a world in which great injustices were being perpetrated. He couldn’t stand idly by.

Martin Luther King Jr. was a Baptist minister. He was also a social activist. His social activism is what changed the world. He fought for a better future for his children and his children’s children.

Carving of Martin Luther King Jr.

While we haven’t fully achieved his vision of eradicating racism, we have moved closer to this dream. More people today interact with people of different color and ethnicity. It’s amazing to see what this man helped accomplish.

With Martin Luther King Jr. Day happening this coming Monday, I wanted to take time today to share 15 of the most inspiring, uplifting quotes from Martin Luther King Jr. that can be applied to leadership.

15 Quotes From Martin Luther King Jr. On Leadership

1. We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.

2. Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.

3. 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.

4. 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.

5. 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.

6. There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.

7. Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.

8. Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.

9. An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

10. A lie cannot live.

11. Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.

12. We may have come on different ships, but we’re in the same boat now.

13. A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on an installment plan.

14. Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.

15. I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

Question: What are your favorite Martin Luther King Jr. quotes? Share yours in the comments below.

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