“Ben, make sure you play ‘Take My Hand, Precious Lord’. Play it real pretty”, are said to be the last words of Reverend Martin Luther King Jr, just before he stepped out onto a balcony in Memphis, Tennessee where a gunman shot him a single time, ending his life half a century ago.

That gunshot 52 years ago put an end to the life of a man who is one of the most revered figures in American history — not to mention one of the most quotable individuals with a persistent relevance to the condition of the country and its people. Today marks the anniversary of the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr, which happened 4 April 1968.

Before King made that plea for the sounds of beauty to Ben Branch, a musician scheduled to play at a planned event that evening in Memphis, he was known for using his words to inspire a generation to peaceful action in the fight for civil rights.

Here is the late reverend, in his own words.

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

“Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty we are free at last.”

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

In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights Show all 10 1 /10 In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 4510050.jpg Memories of a March and a Dream: Martin Luther King during the March on Washington, on 28 August 1963 AFP/Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights Martin Luther King and the March on Washington BBC In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights martin-luther-king-6.jpg American president John F. Kennedy in the White House with leaders of the civil rights 'March on Washington' (left to right) Whitney Young, Dr Martin Luther King Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights martin-luther-king-7.jpg American civil rights campaigner Martin Luther King (1929 - 1968) arriving at London Airport. He is in England to be the chief speaker at a public meeting about colour prejudice and to appear on the BBC television programme 'Face To Face' Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights georgiamlk.jpg Martin Luther King Jr In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights Picture: Library of Congress/ Wiki Commons In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights martin-luther-king-8.jpg Civil rights Leaders hold hands as they lead a crowd of hundreds of thousands at the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, Washington DC Getty Images In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 08peoobi1.jpeg Height, far right, listens to Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech in Washington in 1963 AP In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights 4260367.jpg Beyond the 'us' and 'them' mentality: Martin Luther King's 'I Have a Dream' speech in Washington DC in 1963 AP In pictures: Martin Luther King Jr's campaign for civil rights v2-MLKAFP.jpg Martin Luther King had been imprisoned for taking his campaign of non-violent protest to the streets of Birmingham, Alabama AFP/Getty Images

“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.

“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”

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

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

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

“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.”

“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”

Martin Luther King Jr's iconic I Have A Dream speech

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

“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.”

“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.”

“Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.”

“Our scientific power has outrun our spiritual power. We have guided missiles and misguided men.”

“Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.”

“Every man must decided whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”

“When you are right you cannot be too radical; when you are wrong, you cannot be too conservative.”

March For Our Lives: Martin Luther King's grandaughter Yolanda's speech in Washington DC

“There is nothing more tragic than to find an individual bogged down in the length of life, devoid of breath.”

“Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.”

“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can keep him from lynching me, and I think that’s pretty important.”

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

"It is incontestable and deplorable that Negroes have committed crimes; but they are derivative crimes. They are born of the greater crimes of white society.”

“We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear.”

“The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But… the good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”

“If I wish to compose or write or pray or perch well, I must be angry. Then all the blood in my veins is stirred, and my understanding is sharpened.”

“A right delayed is a right denied.”