Monday, January 15th, is Martin Luther King Jr. day in the USA. King was a deep spiritual thinker and powerful speaker who moved millions to seek reform through unconditional love and non-violent action. For anyone interested in improving the world we live in, it’s worth studying the ideas he preached to discover why his ministry has had such a profound and long lasting impact on untold masses of people.

Here are some quotes on love by Martin Luther King, Jr….

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.

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

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Life’s most urgent question is: What are you doing for others?

Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.

I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.

I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality… I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.

Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’

Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.

The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: “If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?” But…the good Samaritan reversed the question: “If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

Not only did King talk about the power of love, he told his audiences not to hate:

Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness.

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.