Motivating quotes from Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. a pastor and civil rights leader who advocated nonviolent protest against segregation and racial discrimination...winner of the Novel Prize for Peace

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.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.

I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. That is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars...Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.

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.

Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.

If a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time: the need for man to overcome oppression and violence without resorting to oppression and violence. Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

Below: Excerpts from Martin Luther King, Jr.'s "The Drum Major Instinct" sermon delivered at Ebenezer Baptist Church, Atlanta, Georgia, on 4 February 1968

And so Jesus gave us a new norm of greatness. If you want to be important—wonderful. If you want to be recognized—wonderful. If you want to be great—wonderful. But recognize that he who is greatest among you shall be your servant. That's a new definition of greatness.

And this morning, the thing that I like about it: by giving that definition of greatness, it means that 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 don't have to know about Plato and Aristotle to serve. You don't have to know Einstein's theory of relativity to serve. You don't have to know the second theory of thermodynamics in physics to serve. You only need a heart full of grace, a soul generated by love. And you can be that servant.

Jesus, I want to be on your right or your left side, not for any selfish reason. I want to be on your right or your left side, not in terms of some political kingdom or ambition. But I just want to be there in love and in justice and in truth and in commitment to others, so that we can make of this old world a new world.

To view a summary of the famous Drum Major Instinct sermon click here.