'Love Is Such a Powerful Force'—35 of Coretta Scott King's Most Inspiring Quotes
Quotes from MLK's wife on injustice, equality and freedom.
Although best known for being the wife of famed civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., Coretta Scott King was a trailblazer in her own right in the fight for equality and ending injustice.
Dr. King doted on his wife and wrote in his autobiography: “My devoted wife has been a constant source of consolation to me through all the difficulties. In the midst of the most tragic experiences, she never became panicky or over-emotional. I have come to see the real meaning of that rather trite statement: a wife can either make or break a husband. My wife was always stronger than I was through the struggle.”
After King’s assassination, Coretta Scott King continued to be a fearless and passionate activist for civil rights for everyone from the LGBTQ community to poverty-stricken communities. In 1983, she insisted on the amendment of the Civil Rights Act including the LGBTQ community as a protected class. She was also the force behind the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. federal holiday, which was signed into law in 1983. She died on January 30, 2006, but her legacy through her words of inspiration and motivation still lives on. Here are 35 of the most inspiring Coretta Scott King quotes.
35 Coretta Scott King Quotes
"Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul."
“Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated.”
"Behind every good man, there's a good woman reminding you I knew you when you didn't have nothing."
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“Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience. I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others.”
“Struggle is a never-ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation.”
“I’m fulfilled in what I do. I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes – the finer things of life – would make you happy. My concept of happiness is to be filled in a spiritual sense.”
“The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate actions of its members … a heart of grace and a soul generated by love.”
“When you are willing to make sacrifices for a great cause, you will never be alone.”
“If American women would increase their voting turnout by ten percent, I think we would see an end to all of the budget cuts in programs benefiting women and children.”
“I prayed that God would give me the direction for my life, to give me the strength to do what it was, and the ability to do what it was that he had called me to do. And I was trying to seek, ‘What is it that I’m supposed to do, now that Martin is no longer here?'”
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“People asked me how was I able to do this and raise four children at the same time. I can only reply that when God calls you to a great task, he provides you with the strength to accomplish what he has called you to do. Faith and prayer, family and friends were always available when I needed them, and of course, Martin and I always were there for each other.”
“I often wonder whether or not education is fulfilling its purpose. A great majority of the so-called education people do not think logically and scientifically. Even the press, the classroom, the platform, and the pulpit in many instances do not give us objective and unbiased truths. To save man from the morass of propaganda, in my opinion, is one of the chief aims of education. Education must enable one to sift and weigh evidence, to discern the true from the false, the real from the unreal, and the facts from fiction.”
“Homophobia is like racism and anti-Semitism and other forms of bigotry in that it seeks to dehumanize a large group of people, to deny their humanity, their dignity and personhood.”
Related: 55 of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Most Inspiring Motivational Quotes
“Segmentation was wrong when it was forced by white people, and I believe it is still wrong when it is requested by black people.”
“There is a spirit and a need and a man at the beginning of every great human advance. Every one of these must be right for that particular moment of history, or nothing happens.”
"Freedom and justice cannot be parceled out in pieces to suit political convenience."
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"I must remind you that starving a child is violence. Suppressing a culture is violence. Neglecting school children is violence. Punishing a mother and her family is violence. Discrimination against a working man is violence. Ghetto housing is violence. Ignoring medical needs is violence. Contempt for poverty is violence."
"I am convinced that the women of the world, united without any regard for national or racial dimensions, can become a most powerful force for international peace and brotherhood."
“It doesn't matter how strong your opinions are. If you don't use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem.”
“There comes a time when time itself is ready for a change.”
“When Good Friday comes, these are the moments in life when we feel there's no hope. But then, Easter comes.”
"Love is such a powerful force."
"No abundance of material goods can compensate for the death of individuality and personal creativity."
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“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find but something that we must create. And so the ability of Negroes and whites to work together, to understand each other, will not be found readymade; it must be created by the fact of contact.”
“No abundance of material goods can compensate for the death of individuality and personal creativity.”
“Like life, racial understanding is not something that we find but something that we must create. And so the ability of Negroes and whites to work together, to understand each other, will not be found readymade; it must be created by the fact of contact.”
“Sometimes, I am also identified as a civil rights leader or a human rights activist. I would also like to be thought of as a complex, three-dimensional, flesh-and-blood human being with a rich storehouse of experiences, much like everyone else, yet unique in my own way, much like everyone else.”
“In the area of economic justice, we still have a long way to go. We have too many people who are discriminated against just because they happen to be black or they happen to be a woman or some other minority.”
“When fear rushed in, I learned how to hear my heart racing but refused to allow my feelings to sway me. That resilience came from my family. It flowed through our bloodline.”
“Revenge and retaliation always perpetuate the cycle of anger, fear and violence.”
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“Non-violence is a permanent attitude we bring to the breakfast table and bring to bed at night.”
“As one whose husband and mother-in-law have died the victims of murder and assassination, I stand firmly and unequivocally opposed to the death penalty for those convicted of capital offenses… An evil deed is not redeemed by an evil deed of retaliation.”
“I suppose I experienced the personal dilemma that baffles every working woman. What happens when you are expected to be Superwoman, to perform a dozen conflicting tasks at the same time?”
"When the ultimate question is asked about who the real sinners or saviors of this century were, the answer clearly shows that Martin Luther King Jr. helped transform America."
“What most did not understand then was that I was not only married to the man I loved, but I was also married to the movement that I loved.”