In 1968, our nation lost one of the most incredible citizens in United States history.
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Martin Luther King Jr. was shot and killed on April 4, 1968, outside a Tennessee motel room. He was just 39 years old.
The pastor, activist, and humanitarian led an incredibly profound and impactful life. Largely responsible for helping to pass the Civil Rights Act of 1964, King organized, marched, and became accustomed to being inconvenienced and uncomfortable for the greater good.
King's mission toward peace, black freedom, and equality for all didn't stop when he died.
Though his passing was a painful point in American history, his words continue to live on. A radical and peacemaker, a preacher and a father, an advocate for the poor and a criticizer of the indifferent, King's life and teachings were just as complex as he was.
To remember his legacy, we have 50 of his quotes that offer insight into his beliefs about race, class, and humanity itself.
1. "The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy."
2. "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. ... I can never be what I ought to be until you are what you ought to be. ... This is the interrelated structure of reality."
3. "I think that we've got to see that a riot is the language of the unheard. And, what is it that America has failed to hear? It has failed to hear that the economic plight of the Negro poor has worsened over the last few years."
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4. "An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."
5. "He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."
6. "A lie cannot live."
7. "Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere."
8. "A riot is the language of the unheard."
9. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."
10. "Let us develop a kind of dangerous unselfishness."
11. "Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one’s whole being into the being of another."
12. "Why is equality so assiduously avoided? Why does white America delude itself, and how does it rationalize the evil it retains?"
13. "We have deluded ourselves into believing the myth that capitalism grew and prospered out of the Protestant ethic of hard work and sacrifices. The fact is that 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."
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14. "If you can’t fly, run. If you can’t run, walk. If you can’t walk, crawl, but by all means, keep moving."
15. "The function of education, therefore, is to teach one to live intensively and to think critically. ... Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education."
16. "Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. Indeed, it is a weapon unique in history, which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it."
17. "First, I must confess that 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 great stumbling block in his stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Counciler or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate, who is more devoted to 'order' than to justice."
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18. "We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope."
19. "The Negro has no room to make any substantial compromises because his store of advantages is too small. He must press unrelentingly for quality, integrated education or his whole drive for freedom will be undermined by the absence of a most vital and indispensable element — learning."
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20. "We must all learn to live together as brothers, or we will all perish together as fools."
21. "If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live."
22. "History will have to record that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition was not the strident clamor of the bad people, but the appalling silence of the good people."
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23. "The more there are riots, the more repressive action will take place, and the more we face the danger of a right-wing takeover and eventually a fascist society."
24. "No, no, we are not satisfied, and we will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters and righteousness like a mighty stream."
25. "Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that."
26. "Like anybody, I would like to live a long life — longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will."
27. "Never succumb to the temptation of becoming bitter."
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28. "The time is always right to do what is right."
29. "Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will."
30. "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle."
31. "Instead of making history, we are made by history."
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32. "Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think."
33. "I have decided to stick with love. ... Hate is too great a burden to bear."
34. "The problems of racial injustice and economic injustice cannot be solved without a radical redistribution of political and economic power."
35. "I came to the conclusion that there is an existential moment in your life when you must decide to speak for yourself; nobody else can speak for you."
36. "The ultimate tragedy ... was not the brutality of the bad people, but the silence of the good people."
37. "He who passively accepts evil is as much involved in it as he who helps to perpetrate it. He who accepts evil without protesting against it is really cooperating with it."
38. "We cannot walk alone."
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39. "Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men."
40. "There comes a time when we must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because it is right."
41. "When machines and computers, profit motives and property rights are considered more important than people, the giant triplets of racism, extreme materialism, and militarism are incapable of being conquered."
42. "Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude."
43. "Let no man pull you so low as to hate him."
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44. "No one really knows why they are alive until they know what they'd die for."
45. "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 in reality."
46. "It is no longer a choice between violence and nonviolence. It is either nonviolence or nonexistence."
47. "The past is prophetic in that it asserts loudly that wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows."
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48. "Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'"
49. "We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."
There's a reason why some people can perfectly copy accents, and others can't
Turns out, there's a neurodivergent link.
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Have you ever had that friend who goes on vacation for four days to London and comes back with a full-on Queen's English posh accent? "Oooh I left my brolly in the loo," they say, and you respond, "But you're from Colorado!" Well, there are reasons they (and many of us) do that, and usually it's on a pretty subconscious level.
It's called "accent mirroring," and it's actually quite common with people who are neurodivergent, particularly those with ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder). According Neurolaunch, the self-described "Free Mental Health Library," "Accent mirroring, also known as accent adaptation or phonetic convergence, is the tendency to unconsciously adopt the accent or speech patterns of those around us. This linguistic chameleon effect is not unique to individuals with ADHD, but it appears to be more pronounced and frequent in this population."
Essentially, when people have conversations, we're constantly "scanning" for information—not just the words we're absorbing, but the inflection and tone. "When we hear an accent, our brains automatically analyze and categorize the phonetic features, prosody, and intonation patterns," writes Neurolaunch. For most, this does result in copying the accent of the person with whom we're speaking. But those with ADHD might be more sensitive to auditory cues. This, "coupled with a reduced ability to filter out or inhibit the impulse to mimic…could potentially explain the increased tendency for accent mirroring."
While the article explains further research is needed, they distinctly state that, "Accent mirroring in individuals with ADHD often manifests as an unconscious mimicry of accents in social situations. This can range from subtle shifts in pronunciation to more noticeable changes in intonation and speech rhythm. For example, a person with ADHD might find themselves unconsciously adopting a Southern drawl when conversing with someone from Texas, even if they’ve never lived in the South themselves."
People are having their say online. On the subreddit r/ADHDWomen, a thread began: "Taking on accents is an ADHD thing?" The OP shares, "My whole life, I've picked up accents. I, myself, never noticed, but everyone around me would be like, 'Why are you talking like that??' It could be after I watched a show or movie with an accent or after I've traveled somewhere with a different accent than my 'normal.'
They continue, "Apparently, I pick it up fast, but it fades out slowly. Today... I'm scrolling Instagram, I watch a reel from a comedian couple (Darcy and Jeremy. IYKYK) about how Darcy (ADHD) picks up accents everywhere they go. It's called ADHD Mirroring??? And it's another way of masking."
(The OP is referring to Darcy Michaels and his husband Jeremy Baer, who are both touring comedians based in Canada.)
Hundreds of people on the Reddit thread alone seem to relate. One comments, "Omfg I've done this my whole life; I'll even pick up on the pauses/spaces when I'm talking to someone who is ESL—but English is my first language lol."
Sometimes, it can be a real issue for those around the chameleon. "I accidentally mimicked a waitress's weird laugh one time. As soon as she was out of earshot, my family started to reprimand me, but I was already like 'oh my god I don’t know why I did that, I feel so bad.'"
Many commenters on TikTok were shocked to find out this can be a sign of ADHD. One jokes, "Omg, yes, at a store the cashier was talking to me and she was French. She's like 'Oh are you French too? No, I'm not lol. I'm very east coast Canada."
And some people just embrace it and make it work for them. "I mirror their words or phrase! I’m 30. I realized I start calling everyone sweetie cause my manager does & I work at coffee shop."