Tomorrow, January 15th, marks the 55th post mortem birthday of the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., which will actually mark his 94th birthday. Dr. King did so much in the 39 years he walked this earth, that one might say he accomplished more than two lifetimes worth of good in his quest for peace, justice, acceptance, tolerance, love, and brotherhood.

We remember Dr. King each third Monday of January when we celebrate Dr. his birthday, but do we really celebrate all he tried to do for this country? He was a man of powerful, yet gentle, words. He spoke of peace, justice, acceptance, tolerance, love, and brotherhood, but didn’t just talk the talk, he walked the walk too. He exemplified all that he tried to accomplish.

It seems fitting and appropriate on Dr. Martin Luther King Day, and every day in between, that we remember the words of Dr. King, and try, as he did, to live those words. The VFTB wants to remind us of some of the words he spoke, in the hopes we, too, can walk his walk.

“Out of the Mountains of Despair, a Stone of Hope.”

“Darkness cannot drive out darkness, only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate, only love can do that.”

“I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.”

“I have the audacity to believe that peoples everywhere can have three meals a day for their bodies, education and culture for their minds, and dignity, equality, and freedom for their spirits.”

“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.”

“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”

“True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.”

“The time is always right to do what is right.”

“Our lives begin to end, the day we become silent about things that matter.”

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

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

“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”

“Everybody can be great…because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”

“We must learn to live together as brothers, or perish together as fools.”

“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. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”

“There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe nor politic nor popular, but he must take it because his conscience tells him it is right.”

“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”

“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”

“Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy’s point of view, to hear his questions, to know his assessment of ourselves. For from his view we may indeed see the basic weaknesses of our own condition, and if we are mature, we may learn and grow and profit from the wisdom of the brothers who are called the opposition.”

“We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character–that is the goal of true education.”

“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.”

“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”

“All labor that uplifts humanity has dignity and importance and should be undertaken with painstaking excellence.”

“I say to you today, my friends, that in spite of the difficulties and frustrations of the moment, I still have a dream.”

Throughout his life on earth, Dr. King never lost his dream, but he didn’t just dream, he pursued that dream for everyone. May his words always be remembered, may his work never be forgotten, and may we all heed what he said, and join together to turn his dream into reality.