Ethics Quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr

Morality cannot be legislated, but behavior can be regulated. Judicial decrees may not change the heart, but they can restrain the heartless.

— Martin Luther King, Jr

Vanity asks, is it popular? Politics ask, will it work? But conscience and morality ask, is it right?

— Martin Luther King, Jr

There comes a time when a moral man can't obey a law which his conscience tells him is unjust.

— Martin Luther King, Jr

We will have to repent in this generation not merely for the vitriolic words and actions of the bad people, but for…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

There comes a time when one must take the position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must do…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

In order to be true to one's conscience and true to God, a righteous man has no alternative but to refuse to…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

One who breaks an unjust law that conscience tells him is unjust ... is in reality expressing the highest respect for law…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

On some positions, cowardice asks the question, is it expedient? And then expedience comes along and asks the question, is it politic?…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

I submit that an individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

We had no alternative except that of preparing for direct action, whereby we would present our very bodies as a means of…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

On some positions, Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' And Vanity comes along and…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and…

— 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…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

Man was born into barbarism when killing his fellow man was a normal condition of existence. He became endowed with a conscience.…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

In our struggle against racial segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, I came to see at a very early stage that a synthesis of…

— Martin Luther King, Jr

I decide on the basis of conscience. A genuine leader doesn't reflect consensus, he molds consensus.

— Martin Luther King, Jr

If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi and nonviolence. But if your enemy has no conscience like Hitler, then follow…

— Martin Luther King, Jr