Why MLK Quotes For Kids?
Legendary civil rights pioneer Dr Martin Luther King Jr.’s leadership throughout the civil rights struggle helped black Americans who had been consistently denied access to jobs and education.
Even centuries later, audiences are still fascinated by the sayings of Martin Luther King Jr., even if they are about the need for racial justice or forgiveness. Martin Luther King Jr. motivated people through his empowering messages of non-violent resistance and racial equality.
He showed us the immense potential of the human spirit to achieve everything we set our hearts and minds to.
Martin Luther King, Jr. was adamant that only love had the capacity to transform the world.
These quotes by Dr. Martin Luther King will help children find the right motivation of leading a just life and inspire them towards achieving their goals.
One of the most inspirational sayings of Martin Luther King Jr. is ‘We must use time creatively', unsurprisingly, the quote went on to become one of the most MLK quotes.
While we all choose to live life at our own pace, we must keep in mind that human life is mortal and we only have a limited period of time on Earth, so what we choose to make of that time makes all the difference.
At this point in time, kids have their entire lifetime in front of them, so the more focussed they are on their goals, the better results their efforts will yield.
What Parents Should Know?
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was one of the most influential leaders of the civil rights movement and a Baptist minister by profession.
- He came to the limelight during the civil rights movement when he non-violently led the people of color toward equal rights.
- He inspired millions of people through his ideologies toward living a life filled with love, kindness, and equality.
What To Discuss With Kids
- Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was respected not only by people of color but by everyone for his positive and just outlook toward life.
- MLK went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 for his contributions during the civil rights movements.
- Even after he passed away in 1968, his quotes and sayings became evergreen and continue to inspire kids such as you to lead a life worth living.
MLK Quotes For Kids About Life
1. "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."
2. "We are not makers of history. We are made by history. "
3. "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."
4. “I say to you today, my friends, so even though we face the difficulties of today and tomorrow, I still have a dream.”
5. “Real appreciation must flow from the deep seas of the heart.”
6. "Well, I don’t know what will happen now. We’ve got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn’t matter with me now. Because I’ve been to the mountaintop. And I don’t mind."
7. “Faith is taking the first step even when you can’t see the whole staircase.”
8. “Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”
9. "Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude."
10. "Even if I knew that tomorrow the world would go to pieces, I would still plant my apple tree."
11. "The quality – not the longevity – of one's life is what is important."
12. “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles.”
13. "No work is insignificant. All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence."
14. “But I know, somehow, that only when it is dark enough can you see the stars.”
15. “Never, never be afraid to do what's right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society's punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.”
16. “We must learn that to expect God to do everything while we do nothing is not faith but superstition.”
17. “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.”
MLK Quotes For Kids About Equality
18. “We’ve learned to fly the air like birds. We’ve learned to swim the seas like fish. And yet we haven’t learned to walk the earth like brothers and sisters."
19. “There is nothing more majestic and sublime than the quiet testimony of a people willing to sacrifice and suffer for the cause of freedom.”
20. “We may have all come on different ships, but we're in thesame boat now.”
21. “There is no such thing as separate but equal. Separation, segregation, inevitably makes for inequality."
22. “You see, equality is not only a matter of mathematics and geometry, but it’s a matter of psychology.”
23. “Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.”
24. “If I cannot do great things, I will do small things in a great way."
25. "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"
26. "I am not interested in power for the power’s sake, but I’m interested in power that is moral, that is right, and that is good."
27. "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."
28. "Shallow understanding from people of goodwill is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."
29. "Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better."
30. “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.”
31. "The ultimate tragedy is not oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people."
MLK Quotes For Kids About Love
32. "In the End, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
33. "I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear."
34. "Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude."
35. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'
36. "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.
37. "There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love."
38. "It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important."
39. "At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love."
40. "Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend."
41. “One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong.”
42. “Hate destroys the hater.”
43. “Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."
44. "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."
45. "The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold."
46. "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."
MLK Quotes For Kids About Kindness
47. “That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.”
48. “Everyone has the power for greatness, not for fame but greatness, because greatness is determined by service”
49. "If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love.”
50. "I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems."
51. “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."
52. “I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: ‘We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.”
Inspirational MLK Quotes For Kids
53. “Mother Dear, one day I’m going to turn this world upside down.”
54. “No person has the right to rain on your dreams.”
55. “The time is always right to do right.”
56. “Not everybody can be famous, but everybody can be great because greatness is determined by service.”
57. "Be a bush if you can't be a tree. If you can't be a highway, just be a trail. If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are."
58. “The difference between a dreamer and a visionary is that a dreamer has his eyes closed and a visionary has his eyes open.”
59. “Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
60. “The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character - that is the goal of true education.”
61. “Everybody can be great because everybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and your verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love.”
62. “Believe in your dreams and they may come true. Believe in yourself and they will surely come true.”
63. “If you can’t fly, run; if you can’t run, walk; if you can’t walk, crawl; but by all means keep moving.”
64. “Make a career of humanity. Commit yourself to the noble struggle for equal rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country, and a finer world to live in.”
65. “Time itself is neutral; it can be used either destructively or constructively.”
66. “Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles; Cowardice is submissive surrender to circumstances.”
67. “The best way to solve any problem is to remove its cause.”
Other Miscellaneous MLK Quotes For Kids
68. “Find a voice in a whisper.”
69. “No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they’d die for.”
70. “True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.”
71. “We must learn that passively to accept an unjust system is to cooperate with that system, and thereby to become a participant in its evil."
72. "You must be willing to suffer the anger of the opponent, and yet not return anger. No matter how emotional your opponents are, you must remain calm."
73. "The complete education gives one not only power of concentration, but worthy objectives upon which to concentrate."
74. "This faith can give us the courage to face the uncertainties of the future. It will give our tired feet new strength as we continue our forward stride toward the city of freedom.”
75. “As my sufferings mounted, I soon realized that there were two ways in which I could respond to my situation — either to react with bitterness or seek to transform the suffering into a creative force. I decided to follow the latter course."
76. "If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, ‘Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
77. “May I stress the need for courageous, intelligent, and dedicated leadership... Leaders of sound integrity. Leaders not in love with publicity, but in love with justice. Leaders not in love with money, but in love with humanity. Leaders who can subject their particular egos to the greatness of the cause.”
78. “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.”
79. “A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.”
80. “Peace is not simply the absence of conflict, but the existence of justice for all people.”
81. “It’s all right to tell a man to lift himself by his own bootstraps, but it is cruel jest to say to a bootless man that he ought to lift himself by his own bootstraps.”
82. “We cannot walk alone. And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall always march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
83. “We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history, there ‘is’ such a thing as being too late. This is no time for apathy or complacency. This is a time for vigorous and positive action.”
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