Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes - Page 24

• [I]t must be emphasized that nonviolent resistance is not a method for cowards; it does resist. If one uses this method because he is afraid or merely because he lacks the instruments of violence, he is not truly nonviolent. This is why Gandhi often said that if cowardice is the only alternative to violence, it is better to fight.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Fighting, Coward, Doe

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• Loving Your Enemies... Far from being the pious injunction of a utopian dreamer, this demand is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. Yes it is love that will save our world and civilization; love even for our enemies.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Our World, Civilization

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• Nothing is so much needed as a secure family life for a people seeking to rise out of poverty and backwardness.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Family, People, Poverty

  Martin Luther King (Jr.), Alex Ayres (1993). “The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr”, Plume

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• You see, my friends...you begin to ask the questions, 'Who owns the oil?' You begin to ask the question, 'Who owns the iron ore?' You begin to ask the question, 'Why is it that people have to pay water bills in a world that is two-thirds water?'

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Two, Iron, Oil

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• I cannot make myself believe that God wanted me to hate. I'm tired of violence, I've seen too much of it. I've seen such hate on the faces of too many sheriffs in the South. And I'm not going to let my oppressor dictate to me what method I must use. Our oppressors have used violence. Our oppressors have used hatred. Our oppressors have used rifles and guns. I'm not going to stoop down to their level. I want to rise to a higher level. We have a power that can't be found in Molotov cocktails.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Hate, Believe, Tired

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• We have moved into an era where we are called upon to raise certain basic questions about the whole society. We are still called upon to give aid to the beggar who finds himself in misery and agony on life's highway. But one day, we must ask the question of whether an edifice which produces beggars must not be restructured and refurbished.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Agony, Giving, Society

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• Nonviolence is a powerful as well as a just weapon. If you confront a man who has long been cruelly misusing you, and say, "Punish me, if you will; I do not deserve it, but I will accept it, so that the world will know I am right and you are wrong," then you wield a powerful and a just weapon. This man, your oppressor, is automatically morally defeated, and if he has any conscience, he is ashamed.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Powerful, Men, Long

  Source: www.thedailybeast.com

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• There are always those who say legislation can't solve the problem. There is a half-truth involved here. It is true that legislation cannot solve the whole problem. It can solve some of the problem. It may be true that morality can't be legislated, but behavior can be regulated.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Half, May, Morality

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• In spite of its glowing talk about the welfare of the masses, Communism's methods and philosophy strip man of his dignity and worth, leaving him as little more than a depersonalized cog in the ever-turning wheel of the state.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Philosophy, Men, Glowing

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

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• We will not be satisfied until justice rolls down like waters.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Justice, Water, I Have A Dream Speech

  I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

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• He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Forgiveness, Wise

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.64, Beacon Press

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• Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Compassionate, Nations, Great Nations

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.86, Beacon Press

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• Nonviolent action, the Negro saw, was the way to supplement, not replace, the progress of change. It was the way to divest himself of passivity without arraying himself in vindictive force.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Progress, Way, Saws

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.26, Beacon Press

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• If you want to move people, it has to be toward a vision that's positive for
  them, that taps important values, that gets them something they desire and
  it has to be presented in a compelling way so that they feel inspired to
  follow.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Moving, Parenting, Important Values

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• Even in the inevitable moments when all seems hopeless, men know that without hope they cannot really live, and in agonizing desperation they cry for the bread of hope.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Men, Agonizing, Bread

  Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

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• A just law is a man-made code that squares with the moral law, or the law of God. An unjust law is a code that is out of harmony with the moral law.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Men, Squares

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.92, Beacon Press

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• A true revolution of values will soon cause us to question the fairness and justice of many of our present policies.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Justice, Breaking Silence, Revolution

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.119, Beacon Press

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• The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy... In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Stars, Kings, Hate

  "Where do we go from here: Chaos or community?". Book by Martin Luther King Jr., 1967.

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• Good and just society is neither the thesis of capitalism nor the antithesis of communism, but a socially conscious democracy which reconciles the truths of individualism and collectivism.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Democracy, Individualism, Communism

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?”, p.216, Beacon Press

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• I think the first reason that we should love our enemies, and I think this was at the very center of Jesus' thinking, is this: that hate for hate only intensifies the existence of hate and
  evil in the universe.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Jesus, Hate, Thinking

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King, Jr., for Students”, p.24, Beacon Press

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• In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law . . That would lead to anarchy.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Law, Anarchy, Defying

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2011). “Why We Can't Wait”, p.61, Beacon Press

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• America has given the Negro people a bad check, a check which has come back marked 'insufficient funds.'

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  America, People, I Have A Dream Speech

  I Have a Dream, delivered 28 August 1963, at the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C.

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• Our goal is to create a beloved community," said Dr. King, "and this will require a qualitative change in our souls as well as a quantitative change in our lives.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Kings, Beloved Community, Goal

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• Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love harmonies it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love Life, Hatred, Disease

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• Communism will never be defeated by atomic bombs. Our greatest defense against Communism is to take offensive action on behalf of justice and righteousness. We must seek to remove conditions of poverty, injustice, and racial discrimination.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Justice, Defense, Bombs

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