Quotes about Justice
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.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for the law
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
It may well be that we will have to repent in this generation. Not merely for the vitriolic words and the violent actions of the bad people, but for the appalling silence and indifference of the good people who sit around and say, Wait on time.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think that's pretty important.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
A right delayed is a right denied.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
True peace is not merely the absence of tension: it is the presence of justice.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
If we do an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, we will be a blind and toothless nation.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
One day we will learn that the heart can never be totally right when the head is totally wrong
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
Whenever men and women straighten their backs up, they are going somewhere, because a man can't ride your back unless it is bent
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
The first principle of value that we need to rediscover is this: that all reality hinges on moral foundations. In other words, that this is a moral universe, and that there are moral laws of the universe just as abiding as the physical laws. (from Rediscovering Lost Values)
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the hateful words and actions of the bad people but for the appalling silence of the good people.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.
I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.
— Martin Luther King, Jr.