Sources and Attribution
Every quote on this site lists the specific speech, sermon, letter, or book it comes from, wherever that could be confirmed. You will find that source printed right under each quote instead of a bare line that just says "MLK once said."
The works behind these quotes
Most quotes here come from a short list of King's best-documented works. Where we have a page devoted to a work, it is linked.
| Work | Date | Type | What it is |
|---|---|---|---|
| Stride Toward Freedom | 1958 | Book | King's account of the Montgomery bus boycott, and the source of his six principles of nonviolence. |
| Strength to Love | 1963 | Book of sermons | Where most of his writing on love, forgiveness and enemies comes from, including "Loving Your Enemies." |
| Letter from Birmingham Jail | April 16, 1963 | Open letter | Written in the Birmingham city jail in reply to eight white clergymen. The source of most quotes on justice and unjust laws. |
| "I Have a Dream" | August 28, 1963 | Speech | The closing address of the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, at the Lincoln Memorial. |
| Nobel Peace Prize acceptance speech | December 1964 | Speech | Delivered in Oslo. Source of "I have the audacity to believe" and his case for nonviolence as a practical method. |
| Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? | 1967 | Book | His last book, written under pressure from the Black Power debate. Source of "I have decided to stick with love." |
| "The Drum Major Instinct" | February 4, 1968 | Sermon | Preached at Ebenezer Baptist Church two months before his death. Source of his remarks on service and on how he wanted to be remembered. |
| "The Purpose of Education" | 1947 | Student essay | Written for the Morehouse College student paper, the Maroon Tiger, when King was 18. |
| "What Is Your Life's Blueprint?" | October 26, 1967 | Speech | A talk to students at Barratt Junior High School in Philadelphia. Source of the street sweeper passage. |
How to read a source line
The line under each quote gives the work and the year, for example "Strength to Love, 1963." That is enough to find the passage in the book or transcript and read it in full context.
What "widely attributed" means
A small number of lines are shared everywhere as King's but cannot be tied to a specific speech, sermon, or book. Those are labelled "widely attributed to King's speeches" or similar. The label means we could not confirm the source, not that the line is false, and you should cite it with that caution.
Where to check for yourself
- The Martin Luther King, Jr. Research and Education Institute at Stanford publishes documents from King's papers and an encyclopedia of his life and work.
- The King Center in Atlanta, founded by Coretta Scott King, holds his archive and posts many of his speeches.
- The Nobel Prize website carries his 1964 acceptance speech and lecture.
A note on the "I Have a Dream" speech
The short, sourced lines quoted on this site are used the same way news sites, classrooms, and reference sites quote them everywhere. The full speech text is a longer, separate work. If you plan to publish an extended passage instead of a single sourced line, check current usage rules first.
If you spot a quote that is misattributed or sourced wrong, we want to fix it. See ourabout page for how this project is run.