Today, in the United States, we observe Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a federal holiday established in 1986 to honor the slain civil rights leader and his accomplishments.
“Each year, America sets aside [this] day to remember a giant of our Nation’s history and a pioneer of the Civil Rights Movement. During his lifelong struggle for justice and equality, the Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., gave mighty voice to the quiet hopes of millions, offered a redemptive path for oppressed and oppressors alike, and led a Nation to the mountaintop (Whitehouse.gov).”
Here’s a look at 20 quotes Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. etched in the fabric of time; ideals that are applicable to entrepreneurs everywhere.
1. “The time is always right to do what is right.”
2. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?'”
3. “We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right.”
4. “We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
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. “If a man hasn’t discovered something he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
7. “We must all learn to live together as brothers — or we will all perish together as fools.”
8. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
9. “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
10. “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.”
11. “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.”
12. “If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way”
13. “Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”
14. “No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”
15. “There is no gain without struggle.”
16. “Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.”
17. “It does not matter how long you live, but how well you do it.”
18. “Use me, God. Show me how to take who I am, who I want to be, and what I can do, and use it for a purpose greater than myself.”
19. “A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
20. “You are not only responsible for what you say, but also for what you do not say”
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