Honor Martin Luther King Jr. With These Powerful Quotes and Instagram Captions

This year, Martin Luther King. Jr Day falls on Monday, Jan. 17. The annual holiday celebrates the extraordinary life of Baptist minister and activist Dr. King, who helped advance the civil rights movement through courage, justice, equality, and above all else, love for one another.

Dr. King was one of the most profound leaders our nation has ever seen; his dedication to bringing power to the Black community and fighting against racist laws during the 1950s and 1960s is inspirational.

His peaceful manner is something everyone should strive for — and so, to commemorate his honor, we've gathered a list of some of his greatest, most powerful quotes to either read or consider as captions for an Instagram post. Check them out below!

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

2. "We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope."

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

4. "Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase."

5. "Forgiveness is not an occasional act. It is a permanent attitude."

6. "We must learn to live together as brothers or perish together as fools."

7. "Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal."

8. "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends."

9. "Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness."

10. "Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle."

11. "The time is always right to do what is right."

12. "We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now."

13. "True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice."

14. "Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred."

15. "Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love."

1. "You can kill the dreamer but you can’t kill the dream."

2. "Courage is an inner resolution to go forward despite obstacles."

3. "Let no man pull you low enough to hate him."

4. "We need leaders not in love with money but in love with justice, not in love with publicity but in love with humanity."

5. "If I cannot do great things, I can do small things in a great way."

6. "Intelligence plus character, that’s the goal of true education."

7. "We must speak with all the humility that is appropriate to our limited vision, but we must speak."

8. "We must use time creatively, in the knowledge that the time is always ripe to do right."

9. "No person has the right to rain on your dreams."

10. "The surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others."

11. "Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter."

12. "Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly."

13. "For the hour is late. The clock of destiny is ticking out, and we must act now before it is too late."

14. "Only in the darkness can you see the stars."

15. "Keep the dream alive."