Martin Luther King Jr's Handwritten Note For Sale at $42,000

There's a special piece of Martin Luther King Jr. memorabilia up for sale ... a handwritten note where he shares his personal definition of love.

It's pretty cool ... one of MLK's admirers asked him the meaning of love, and the civil rights icon scribbled a super-deep quote ... the note is hitting the market through the memorabilia company Moments in Time -- and they're hawking this slice of history for a cool $42,000!!!

Martin's message is from sometime in the mid-1960s... and he says, "Love is the greatest force in the universe. It is the heartbeat of the moral cosmos. He who loves is a participant in the being of God."

Powerful stuff, for sure.

Anything written in MLK's handwriting is super rare and valuable ... there's not much out there other than inscribed books ... and he even slapped his John Hancock on the bottom of the parchment.

It's kinda funny ... the note was acquired from a memorabilia dealer in England who apparently didn't have a clue as to what he had in his possession.

See, it pays to know your world history.