Martin Luther King Jr. - 12 lesser-known, thought-provoking quotes

Today is Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a national holiday in the United States. Every year, on the third Monday of January Americans, take this day to reflect on all that still needs to be accomplished to achieve racial equality. It is not just a day off school and work but rather a time to reflect and take action on civil rights worldwide.

The very first Martin Luther King Jr. Day was observed in 1986. To make the day a federal holiday, six million signatures were collected in a petition that was presented to Congress. A law was passed to make it an official holiday, and the day to commemorate Dr. King's life was created. 

Stevie Wonder lent his hand to the cause by releasing his iconic single 'Happy Birthday' to raise awareness about the necessity of creating a day honoring the civil rights leader who fought for justice and peace.

MLK's famous "I have a dream" speech is what many remember most about him. To this day, it reminds people around the world of a dream that will never be diminished, but by many people's standards, it is a dream that has yet to be fully accomplished.

Martin Luther King Jr. was an outstanding public speaker, and he delivered many messages for us that are still meaningful today. Join us for a look at a few of the lesser-known quotes from MLK's life that still ring true today.

“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the true goal of education.”

“Philanthropy is commendable, but it must not cause the philanthropist to overlook the circumstances of economic injustice which make philanthropy necessary.”

“Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”

“Over the past few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro’s greatest stumbling block in his stride towards freedom is not the White Citizen’s Councilor or the Klu Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to ‘order’ than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice.”

“We must be concerned not merely about who murdered them, but about the system, the way of life, the philosophy which produced the murderers.”

“Of all the forms of inequality, injustice in health is the most shocking and inhuman.”

"A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defence than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom”

“We must rapidly begin the shift from a ‘thing-oriented’ society to a ‘person-oriented’ society. When machines and computers, profit motives, and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered.”

“True compassion is more than flinging a coin to a beggar. It comes to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”

“ And one day we must ask the question, ‘Why are there forty million poor people in America?’ And when you begin to ask that question, you are raising questions about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth.”

“Capitalism was built on the exploitation and suffering of black slaves and continues to thrive on the exploitation of the poor — both black and white, both here and abroad.”

‘’If a city has a 30% Negro population, then it is logical to assume that Negroes should have at least 30% of the jobs in any particular company, and jobs in all categories rather than only in menial areas.”