75 Coretta Scott King Quotes from American Civil Rights Activist

Coretta Scott King, renowned not just as Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s wife, played a pivotal role in the struggle against injustice.

Born in Alabama in 1927, she demonstrated early prowess in music, earning her BA from Antioch College and continuing her musical studies in Boston.

There, she met and later married Martin in 1953. Moving to Montgomery, Alabama, where Martin became a pastor, they found themselves at the heart of the Civil Rights Movement.

Despite facing threats due to their activism, Coretta stood with her husband, addressing issues like the movement’s sidelining of women.

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Following Martin’s assassination in 1968, Coretta championed various causes, from labor rights to opposing the Vietnam War, which led to her being under FBI surveillance.

She toured internationally, discussing US racism and economic issues and penned her memoirs in 1969.

Coretta was instrumental in founding the King Center to preserve Martin’s legacy and played a crucial role in establishing a federal holiday in his honor.

Remaining active in the center, she continued advocating for equality till her demise in 2006. She rests beside her husband in Atlanta.

I have listed below the top quotes by Coretta Scott King.


Top 10 Coretta Scott King Quotes

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I don’t believe you can stand for freedom for one group of people and deny it to others. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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What did it take to stay on the civil rights battlefield after Martin was assassinated? ~ Coretta Scott King.

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My value system formed and was strengthened through pain and sacrifice. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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If you don’t use your power for positive change, you are, indeed, part of the problem. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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I never thought that a lot of money or fine clothes – the finer things of life – would make you happy. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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When my family had our brush with evil the night of the fire, I saw the awful face of hate clearly, although the perpetrators were never identified. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Behind every good man, there’s a good woman reminding you I knew you when you didn’t have nothing. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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The greatest violence is seeing a child go to bed hungry. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Although Martin never saw what his prophetic words proclaim, I was fortunate enough to see his dream come true. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Nothing had changed, but now… We had hope. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Famous Coretta Scott King Quotes

Vietnam has been replaced by an undeclared war in our central cities… fought by gangs with guns over drugs. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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It was a coalition that was growing by the day as scores of young people joined the movement. ~ Coretta Scott King.

The travels Martin and I experienced together afforded us a chance to connect with world leaders, to get more than a textbook understanding of the developing nations of the world. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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When the ultimate question is asked about who the real sinners or saviours of this century were, the answer clearly shows that Martin Luther King Jr. helped transform America. ~ Coretta Scott King.

If American women 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. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Non-violence is a permanent attitude we bring to the breakfast table and bring to bed at night. ~ Coretta Scott King.

I appeal to everyone who believes in Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream to make room at the table of brother and sisterhood for lesbian and gay people. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Hate is too great a burden to bear. It injures the hater more than it injures the hated. ~ Coretta Scott King.

‘I knew that I did not want the Center to be a monument set only in bricks and mortar… and I envisioned a state-of-the-art archive of my husband’s sermons, speeches, and other pertinent writings. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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The greatness of a community is most accurately measured by the compassionate action of its members. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Despite the wrangling back and forth, supporters of the march won out, and the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom was set for August 28, giving us fewer than sixty days to organize, plan, and transport the one hundred thousand people we expected to attend. ~ Coretta Scott King.

My mother had a sweet disposition, but she was a no-nonsense kind of person. She did not gossip about people. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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When you are willing to make sacrifices for a great cause, you will never be alone. ~ Coretta Scott King.

I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Inspiring Coretta Scott King Quotes

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There comes a time when time itself is ready for a change. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Some people on the sidewalks, white and black alike, seemed happy to see us … In another twist, we were no longer treated like enemies of the state. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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I never experienced any feelings of being rejected. I believe that women know if their husbands are unfaithful. ~ Coretta Scott King.

The prospect of establishing a rainbow coalition that could eventually see beyond racism and challenge the systems that demeaned all persons excited Martin. ~ Coretta Scott King.

In Martin’s sermons, I saw how he prepared the congregation for a time when they would have to act upon the words he was instilling in their souls. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Though Martin was gone physically, I became acutely aware of how much he remained a part of me spiritually. – Coretta Scott King

Quotes by Coretta Scott King

One morning paper wrote an article accusing the NAACP of planting Mrs. Parks on the bus, and likened the boycott to the tactics of the White Citizens’ Council, a white supremacist group that had formed in 1954. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Women, if the soul of the nation is to be saved, I believe that you must become its soul. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Thousands of blacks had left before me, either chased out by the tyranny of white folks or led by visions of a better life in a northern promised land. ~ Coretta Scott King.

While our parents were worrying themselves to death about us, Martin and I felt secure. ~ Coretta Scott King.

It had been the aim of the authorities to discredit Martin. However, his followers saw his release as a direct answer to their prayers, a blessing that only made him more of a hero in their eyes. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Love is such a powerful force. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Quotes from Coretta Scott King

I pushed for all construction to have 50 percent minority participation, and in the end we exceeded that benchmark. ~ Coretta Scott King.

My private thoughts about the birth of my firstborn were a soliloquy, spoken to no one but God. Yet it appeared that God must have been listening. ~ Coretta Scott King.

As I reflect upon the chapters of my life, peering into the margins and fine print as well as at the boldly illuminated headlines, I am simply amazed. ~ Coretta Scott King.

I believe it is only right that the caring community that helped produce a Martin Luther King Jr. not deteriorate but remain creative, vibrant, and illustrious. ~ Coretta Scott King.

When Good Friday comes, these are the moments in life when we feel there’s no hope. But then, Easter comes. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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I had to live life and believe that God would define me and shape me for my purpose. ~ Coretta Scott King.

But at President Kennedy’s funeral, victory was far from my mind. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Everywhere we went, people recognized Martin from the exposure he had received on the cover of Time magazine. ~ Coretta Scott King.

We took pride in knowing that our all-black community represented three generations of black ownership. ~ Coretta Scott King.

He, Martin, confided in me his fear that he would be trying to prove his innocence for the rest of his life. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Quotes about Coretta Scott King

The impact of my husband’s assassination was felt deeply by millions around the world, but it resonated especially in black neighborhoods. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Nehru had told Martin and me how, because of the climate set by Gandhi, federal laws banned discrimination against the untouchables, and the Indian Constitution had made violation of that law a crime punishable by imprisonment. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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The prize and all the publicity would detract from our time together, which, as it was, was quickly being winnowed away. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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. ~ Coretta Scott King.

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. ~ Coretta Scott King.

‘The idea of a reflecting pool had come to me during my visit to the Taj Mahal in Agra, India, during my book tour in 1970. ~ Coretta Scott King.

There is a spirit and a need and a man at the beginning of every great human advance. – Coretta Scott King.

Throughout my life, whenever I didn’t pray, things went badly. I would become frustrated and feel out of sync with the will and purpose of God. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Best Coretta Scott King Quotes

Struggle is a never ending process. Freedom is never really won, you earn it and win it in every generation. ~ Coretta Scott King.

How many men must die before we can really have a free and true and peaceful society? ~ Coretta Scott King.

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Revenge and retaliation always perpetuate the cycle of anger, fear, and violence. ~ Coretta Scott King.

I was humbled and surprised when a reporter looking for a comparison asked me to name another African American woman who had built an institution from the ground up that was hailed internationally as a tourist destination. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Justice is never advanced in the taking of human life. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Our family had suffered so many tragedies in six short years. They kept us on our knees, praying for strength, and we found the strength to push past our pain and continue on our mission. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Accepting the prize, Martin said he saw the award as ‘profound recognition that nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political and moral questions of our time’. ~ Coretta Scott King.

Looking back, those hard early years building a staff were just a few backward steps in what was overall a great march forward. ~ Coretta Scott King.

One year before Martin’s assassination, I met with Atlanta’s mayor, Ivan Allen, to retain his help in restoring Martin’s birth home. ~ Coretta Scott King.

The press was not interested in reporting our efforts to move forward, though. They focused on the negative, and it took a while to live down that series of incidents. ~ Coretta Scott King.

I think there is a realization that the tactics of the late sixties are not sufficient to meet the challenges of the seventies. ~ Coretta Scott King.

When the heart is right, the mind and the body will follow. ~ Coretta Scott King.


So these were the 75 famous quotes about Coretta Scott King.

If you like these quotes and sayings, then you can also read my other posts on Ansel Adams quotes and André Breton quotes.

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Chandan Negi
Chandan Negi

I’m the Founder of Internet Pillar - I love sharing quotes and motivational content to inspire and motivate people - #quotes #motivation #internetpillar