A Dozen Inspiring Quotes From Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., The Preacher

Ordained in 1960 and installed as a co-pastor (with his father) at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. was a preacher. Here are a dozen quotes from a man who found a way to move faith from the pews to the city. Perhaps one of them is right for your message tomorrow ...

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

“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.”

“To be a Christian without prayer is no more possible than to be alive without breathing.”

“Faith is taking the first step even when you can't see the whole staircase.”

“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo 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.'”

“Intelligence plus character—that is the goal of true education.”

“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”

“Now there is a final reason I think that Jesus says, 'Love your enemies.' It is this: Love has within it a redemptive power ... Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy to a friend.”

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

“I’m not worried about anything. I’m not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord.”

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

“The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.”

OK, it’s a Baker’s Dozen. Here’s an extra one:

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”