Background Image
But There Is Another Way. And That Is To Organize Mass Non-violent Resistance Based On The Principle Of Love. It Seems To Me That This Is The Only Way As Our Eyes Look To The Future. As We Look Out Across The Years And Across The Generations, Let Us Develop And Move Right Here. We Must Discover The Power Of Love, The Power, The Redemptive Power Of Love. And When We Discover That We Will Be Able To Make Of This Old World A New World. We Will Be Able To Make Men Better. Love Is The Only Way.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
Please Wait....
Translating....

But There Is Another

Martin Luther King, Jr.
But There Is Another Way. And That Is To Organize Mass Non-violent Resistance Based On The Principle Of Love. It Seems To Me That This Is The Only Way As Our Eyes Look To The Future. As We Look Out Across The Years And Across The Generations, Let Us Develop And Move Right Here. We Must Discover The Power Of Love, The Power, The Redemptive Power Of Love. And When We Discover That We Will Be Able To Make Of This Old World A New World. We Will Be Able To Make Men Better. Love Is The Only Way.
Views: 6
Topic
Life
Moving
Eye
More From Martin Luther King, Jr.
Make A Career Of Humanity. Commit Yourself To The Struggle For Equal Rights.
Struggle
Rights
Careers
It All Boils Down To The Fact That We Must Never Allow Ourselves To Become Satisfied With Unattained Goals. We Must Always Maintain A Kind Of Divine Discontent.
Goal
Facts
Kind
It Seems To Me That Education Has A Two-fold Function To Perform In The Life Of Man And In Society: The One Is Utility And The Other Is Culture. Education Must Enable A Man To Become More Efficient, To Achieve With Increasing Facility The Ligitimate Goals Of His Life.
Men
Two
Goal
I Have A Dream That My Four Little Children Will One Day Live In A Nation Where They Will Not Be Judged By The Color Of Their Skin, But By The Content Of Their Character.
Dream
Kings
Children
Segregation, As Even The Segregationists Know In Their Hearts, Is Morally Wrong And Sinful. If It Weren't, The White South Would Not Be Haunted As It Is By A Deep Sense Of Guilt For What It Has Done To The Negro - Guilt For Patronizing Him, Degrading Him, Brutalizing Him, Depersonalizing Him, Thingifying Him; Guilt For Lying To Itself. This Is The Source Of The Schizophrenia That The South Will Suffer Until It Goes Through Its Crisis Of Conscience.
Lying
Heart
White
Our Scientific Power Has Outrun Our Spiritual Power. We Have Guided Missiles And Misguided Men. Our Hope For Creative Living Lies In Our Ability To Reestablish The Spiritual Needs Of Our Lives In Personal Character And Social Justice. Without This Spiritual And Moral Reawakening We Shall Destroy Ourselves In The Misuse Of Our Own Instruments.
Spiritual
Lying
Character
Use Me, God. Show Me How To Take Who I Am, Who I Want To Be, And What I Can Do, And Use It For A Purpose Greater Than Myself.
God
Christian
Religious
The Problem Of Racism, The Problem Of Economic Exploitation, And The Problem Of War Are All Tied Together. These Are The Triple Evils That Are Interrelated.
War
Racism
Evil
Every Man Must Decide Whether He Will Walk In The Light Of Creative Altruism Or In The Darkness Of Destructive Selfishness.
Integrity
Selfish
Creativity
It Is Hardly A Moral Act To Encourage Others Patiently To Accept Injustice Which He Himself Does Not Endure.
Doe
Moral
Injustice
Wherever Schools Can Be Integrated Through The Busing Method, And Where It Won't Be Just A, A Terrible Inconvenience, I Think It Ought To Be Done.
School
Thinking
Done
These Are The Times For Real Choices And Not False Ones. We Are At The Moment When Our Lives Must Be Placed On The Line If Our Nation Is To Survive Its Own Folly. Every Man Of Humane Convictions Must Decide On The Protest That Best Suits His Convictions, But We Must All Protest.
Real
Men
Justice
It Is Our Experience That The Nation Doesn't Move Around Questions Of Genuine Equality For The Poor And For Black People Until It Is Confronted Massively, Dramatically In Terms Of Direct Action.
Moving
Direct Action
People
Alienation Is A Form Of Living Death. It Is The Acid Of Despair That Dissolves Society.
Despair
Acid
Form
You're As Good As Anybody.
Essence
A Strong Man Must Be Militant As Well As Moderate. He Must Be A Realist As Well As An Idealist.
Strong
Men
Realist
There Are Two Types Of Laws: There Are Just Laws And There Are Unjust Laws... What Is The Difference Between The Two?...an Unjust Law Is A Man-made Code That Is Out Of Harmony With The Moral Law.
Peace
War
Men
But Life At Its Best Is A Creative Synthesis Of Opposites In Fruitful Harmony.
Opposites
Creative
Synthesis
Freedom Is One Thing. You Have It All Or You Are Not Free.
One Thing
We Must Pursue Peaceful End Through Peaceful Means.
War
Mean
Peaceful
As We Have Seen, The First Public Expression Of Disenchantment With Nonviolence Arose Around The Question Of 'self-defense.' In A Sense This Is A False Issue, For The Right To Defend One's Home And One's Person When Attacked Has Been Guaranteed Through The Ages By Common Law.
Home
Self
Expression
Man Must Evolve For All Human Conflict A Method Which Rejects Revenge, Aggression And Retaliation. The Foundation Of Such A Method Is Love.
Love
Peace
Kings
Of Course, There Is Nothing New About This Kind Of Civil Disobedience. It Was Seen Sublimely In The Refusal Of Shadrach, Meshach And Abednego To Obey The Laws Of Nebuchadnezzar Because A Higher Moral Law Was Involved. It Was Practiced Superbly By The Early Christians Who Were Willing To Face Hungry Lions And The Excruciating Pain Of Chopping Blocks, Before Submitting To Certain Unjust Laws Of The Roman Empire.
Christian
Pain
Block
I Feel That Non-violence Is Really The Only Way That We Can Follow Because Violence Is Just So Self-defeating. A Riot Ends Up Creating Many More Problems For The Negro Community Than It Solved. We Can Through Violence Burn Down A Building, But You Can't Establish Justice. You Can Murder A Murderer, But You Can't Murder Murder Through Violence. You Can Murder A Hater, But You Can't Murder Hate. And What We're Trying To Get Rid Of Is Hate, Injustice, And All Of These Other Things That Continue The Long Night Of Man's Inhumanity To Man.
Hate
Night
Men
Liberalism Provided Me With An Intellectual Satisfaction That I Never Found In Fundamentalism. I Became So Enamored Of The Insights Of Liberalism That I Almost Fell Into The Trap Of Accepting Uncritically Everything It Encompassed.
Intellectual
Satisfaction
Accepting
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.
Peace
Freedom
Believe
So I Have Tried To Make It Clear That It Is Wrong To Use Immoral Means To Attain Moral Ends. But Now I Must Affirm That It Is Just As Wrong, Or Even More So, To Use Moral Means To Preserve Immoral Ends.
Mean
Use
Moral
Science Keeps Religion From Sinking Into The Valley Of Crippling Irrationalism And Paralyzing Obscurantism. Religion Prevents Science From Falling Into The Marsh Of Obsolete Materialism And Moral Nihilism.
Fall
Nihilism
Valleys
The Great Issue Of Life Is To Harness The Drum Major Instinct.
Issues
Life Is
Instinct
He Should Sweep Streets So Well That All The Host Of Heaven And Earth Will Pause To Say, 'here Lives A Great Street-sweeper Who Did His Job Well'
Jobs
Greatness
Heaven
My Friends, I Must Say To You That We Have Not Made A Single Gain In Civil Rights Without Determined Legal And Nonviolent Pressure.
Inspirational
Rights
Gains
I Am Cognizant Of The Interrelatedness Of All Communities And States. I Cannot Sit Idly By In Atlanta And Not Be Concerned About What Happens In Birmingham. 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. Never Again Can We Afford To Live With The Narrow, Provincial "outside Agitator" Idea.
Destiny
Atlanta
Ideas
God Has Given Each Normal Person A Capacity To Achieve Some End. True, Some Are Endowed With More Talent Than Others, But God Has Left None Of Us Talentless.
Normal
Talent
Achieve
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.
Kings
Beloved Community
Goal
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.
Love
Inspirational
Acceptance
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.
Stars
Kings
Hate
Courageous Men Never Lose The Zest For Living Even Though Their Life Situation Is Zestless; Cowardly Men, Overwhelmed By The Uncertainties Of Life, Lose The Will To Live. We Must Constantly Build Dykes Of Courage To Hold Back The Flood Of Fear.
Courage
Men
Zest
There Is A More Excellent Way, Of Love And Nonviolent Protest.
Inspirational
Way
Excellent
A Man Can't Ride Your Back Unless It's Bent.
Wisdom
Men
African American
Before You Finish Eating Breakfast In The Morning, You've Depended On More Than Half Of The World.
Morning
Half
World
I Have A Dream, One Dream, Keep Dreaming. Dream Of Freedom, Justice Dreaming, Dreaming Of Equality And Hopefully No Longer Required To Dream Them
Dream
Justice
Keep Dreaming
The Poor Never Get The Job Done They Are Sleepy.
Jobs
Done
Sleepy
Be The Peace You Wish To See In The World!
Inspirational
Motivational
Change
Human Progress Is Neither Automatic Nor Inevitable... Every Step Toward The Goal Of Justice Requires Sacrifice, Suffering, And Struggle; The Tireless Exertions And Passionate Concern Of Dedicated Individuals.
Change
Work
Struggle
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.
Love
Inspirational
Marriage
When People Criticize Zionists, They Mean Jews. You Are Talking Anti-semitism.
Mean
Talking
People
Violence Never Really Deals With The Basic Evil Of The Situation. Violence May Murder The Murderer, But It Doesn’t Murder Murder. Violence May Murder The Liar, But It Doesn’t Murder Lie; It Doesn’t Establish Truth. Violence May Even Murder The Dishonest Man, But It Doesn’t Murder Dishonesty. Violence May Go To The Point Of Murdering The Hater, But It Doesn’t Murder Hate. It May Increase Hate. It Is Always A Descending Spiral Leading Nowhere. This Is The Ultimate Weakness Of Violence: It Multiplies Evil And Violence In The Universe. It Doesn’t Solve Any Problems.
Hate
Liars
Lying
Something Should Remind Us Once More That The Great Things In This Universe Are Things That We Never See.
Should
Great Things
Universe
Of All The Forms Of Inequality, Injustice In Health Care Is The Most Shocking And Inhumane.
Inspirational
Kings
Health
Unless You Have Found Something In Life To Live For That Is More Important To You Than Your Own Life, You Will Always Be A Slave. For All Another Man Needs To Do Is Threaten To Take Your Life To Get You To Do His Bidding.
Men
Important
Needs
And I Say To You, I Have Decided To Stick With Love, For I Know That Love Is Ultimately The Only Answer To Mankind's Problems. And I'm Going To Talk About It Everywhere I Go. For I Have Seen Too Much Hate... Every Time I See It, I Know That It Does Something To Their Faces And Their Personalities, And I Say To Myself That Hate Is Too Great A Burden To Bear. I Have Decided To Love.
Hate
Love Is
Personality
[e]very Human Life Is A Reflection Of Divinity, And... Every Act Of Injustice Mars And Defaces The Image Of God In Man.
Reflection
Men
Mars
The Moral Arc Of The Universe Bends At The Elbow Of Justice.
Sad
Justice
Elbows
Without Justice, There Can Be No Peace.
Justice
Civil Rights
Somewhere Somebody Must Have Some Sense. Men Must See That Force Begets Force, Hate Begets Hate, Toughness Begets Toughness. And It Is All A Descending Spiral, Ultimately Ending In Destruction For All And Everybody. Somebody Must Have Sense Enough And Morality Enough To Cut Off The Chain Of Hate And The Chain Of Evil In The Universe. And You Do That By Love.
Hate
Cutting
Men
You Have Very Little Morally Persuasive Power With People Who Can Feel Your Underlying Contempt.
Inspirational
People
Disrespect
He Who Is Greatest Among You Shall Be A Servant. That's The New Definition Of Greatness. ... By Giving That Definition Of Greatness, It Means That Everybody Can Be Great, Because Everybody Can Serve.
Mean
Greatness
Giving
Ultimately A Great Nation Is A Compassionate Nation.
Compassionate
Nations
Great Nations
Truth Crushed To Earth Will Rise Again.
Earth
Crushed
Kings Speech
Love Is The Most Durable Power In The World.
Love Is
World
What Good Does It Do To Sit At The Counter When You Cannot Afford A Hamburger?
Struggle
Economic Inequality
Hamburgers
The Negro Has No Room To Make Any Substantial Compromises Because His Store Of Advantages Is Too Small. He Must Press Unrelentingly For Quality, Integrated Education Or His Whole Drive For Freedom Will Be Undermined By The Absence Of A Most Vital And Indispensable Element - Learning.
Liberty
Quality
Elements
An Eye For An Eye Leaves Everybody Blind.
Inspirational
Revenge
Eye
There Is A Magnificent New Militancy Within The Negro Community All Across This Nation. And I Welcome This As A Marvelous Development. The Negro Of America Is Saying He's Determined To Be Free And He Is Militant Enough To Stand Up.
America
Community
Development
Your Self-sacrificin G Devotion To Your Purpose In Life And Your Unwavering Faith Will Carry You Through Times Of Difficulty.
Self
Purpose
Unwavering Faith
Violence As A Way Of Achieving Racial Justice Is Both Impractical And Immoral. It Is Impractical Because It Is A Descending Spiral Ending In Destruction For All. It Is Immoral Because It Seeks To Humiliate The Opponent Rather Than Win His Understanding; It Seeks To Annihilate Rather Than To Convert. Violence Is Immoral Because It Thrives On Hatred Rather Than Love.
Love
Peace
Winning
True Compassion Is More Than Flinging A Coin To A Beggar; It Comes To See That An Edifice Which Produces Beggars Needs Restructuring.
Inspirational
Life
Compassion
If We Get Setbacks And If Something Happens Where The Civil Rights Bill Is Watered Down, For Instance, If The Negro Feels That He Can Do Nothing But Move From One Ghetto To Another And One Slum To Another, The Despair And The Disappointment Will Be So Great That It Will Be Very Difficult To Keep The Struggle Disciplined And Nonviolent.
Disappointment
Moving
Struggle
Love Is Somehow The Key That Unlocks The Door Which Leads To Ultimate Reality.
Reality
Love Is
Keys
Every Word And Deed Must Contribute To An Understanding With The Enemy And Release Those Vast Reservoirs Of Goodwill Which Have Been Blocked By Impenetrable Walls Of Hate.
Wall
Hate
Understanding
I Think A Revolution Can Survive Without Single Centralized Leadership.
Thinking
Revolution
A True Revolution Of Values Will Soon Cause Us To Question The Fairness And Justice Of Many Of Our Present Policies.
Justice
Breaking Silence
Revolution
Whatever Affects One Directly, Affects All Indirectly. I Can Never Be What I Ought To Be Until You Are What You Ought To Be. This Is The Interrelated Structure Of Reality.
Powerful
Reality
Web Of Life
In Struggling For Human Dignity The Oppressed People Of The World Must Not Allow Themselves To Become Bitter Or Indulge In Hate Campaigns. To Retaliate With Hate And Bitterness Would Do Nothing But Intensify The Hate In The World. Along The Way Of Life, Someone Must Have Sense Enough And Morality Enough To Cut Off The Chain Of Hate. This Can Be Done Only By Projecting The Ethics Of Love To The Center Of Our Lives.
Peace
Hate
War
The Nation Is Sick; Trouble Is In The Land, Confusion All Around...but I Know, Somehow, That Only When It Is Dark Enough Can You See The Stars. And I See God Working In This Period Of The Twentieth Century. Something Is Happening In Our World. The Masses Of People Are Rising Up. And Wherever They Are Assembled Today, Whether They Are In Johannesburg, South Africa; Nairobi, Kenya; Accra, Ghana; New York City; Atlanta, Georgia; Jackson, Mississippi; Or Memphis, Tennessee, The Cry Is Always The Same: 'we Want To Be Free.'
New York
Stars
Dark
Without Denying The Value Of Scientific Endeavor, There Is A Striking Absurdity In Committing Billions To Reach The Moon Where No People Live, While Only A Fraction Of That Amount Is Appropriated To Service The Densely Populated Slums.
Moon
People
Fractions
History Will Have To Record That The Greatest Tragedy Of This Period Of Social Transition Was Not The Strident Clamor Of The Bad People, But The Appalling Silence Of The Good People. 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. He Who Passively Accepts Evil Is As Much Involved In It As He Who Helps To Perpetrate It. He Who Accepts Evil Without Protesting Against It Is Really Cooperating With It.
Courage
Integrity
Destiny
Quietly Endure, Silently Suffer And Patiently Wait.
Inspirational
Struggle
Waiting
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.
Moving
Parenting
Important Values
One Day The South Will Know That When These Disinherited Children Of God Sat Down At Lunch Counters, They Were In Reality Standing Up For What Is Best In The American Dream And For The Most Sacred Values In Our Judaeo-christian Heritage, Thereby Bringing Our Nation Back To Those Great Wells Of Democracy Which Were Dug Deep By The Founding Fathers In Their Formulation Of The Constitution And The Declaration Of Independence.
Christian
Dream
Children
Power Is Love Implementing The Demands Of Justice. Justice Is Love Correcting Everything That Goes Against Love.
Love
Power
Justice
The Nonviolent Approach Does Not Immediately Change The Heart Of The Oppressor. It First Does Something To The Hearts And Souls Of Those Committed To It. It Gives Them New Self-respect; It Calls Up Resources Of Strength And Courage They Did Not Know They Had.
Respect
Determination
Heart
The Labor Movement Was The Principal Force That Transformed Misery And Despair Into Hope And Progress. Out Of Its Bold Struggles, Economic And Social Reform Gave Birth To Unemployment Insurance, Old Age Pensions, Government Relief For The Destitute, And, Above All, New Wage Levels That Meant Not Mere Survival But A Tolerable Life.
Struggle
Government
Survival
And I Must Say Tonight That A Riot Is The Language Of The Unheard. And What Is It America Has Failed To Hear? It Has Failed To Hear That The Plight Of The Negro Poor Has Worsened Over The Last Twelve Or Fifteen Years. It Has Failed To Hear That The Promises Of Freedom And Justice Have Not Been Met. And It Has Failed To Hear That Large Segments Of White Society Are More Concerned About Tranquility And The Status Quo Than About Justice And Humanity.
White
America
Years
We Must Build Dikes Of Courage To Hold Back The Flood Of Fear. That Old Law About "an Eye For An Eye" Leaves Everybody Blind... The Time Is Always Right To Do The Right Thing. Peace Is Not Merely A Distant Goal That We Seek, But A Means By Which We Arrive At That Goal.
Mean
Eye
Law
If You Have Not Discovered Something You Are Willing To Die For, Then You Are Not Fit To Live.
Fit
Willing
Dies
We Can Walk Through The Darkest Night With The Radiant Conviction That All Things Work Together For The Good.
Spiritual
Night
Working Together
We Must Have Our Freedom Now. We Must Have The Right To Vote. We Must Have Equal Protection Of The Law.
Law
Vote
Protection
By Opening Our Lives To God In Christ, We Become New Creatures. This Experience, Which Jesus Spoke Of As The New Birth, Is Essential If We Are To Be Transformed Nonconformists . . . Only Through An Inner Spiritual Transformation Do We Gain The Strength To Fight Vigorously The Evils Of The World In A Humble And Loving Spirit.
Christian
Spiritual
Jesus
By Its Very Nature, Hate Destroys And Tears Down; By Its Very Nature, Love Creates And Builds Up.
Hate
Love And Hate
Tears
For Years, I Labored With The Idea Of Reforming The Existing Institutions In The South, A Little Change Here, A Little Change There. Now I Feel Quite Differently. I Think You've Got To Have A Reconstruction Of The Entire System, A Revolution Of Values.
Thinking
Years
Ideas
The Whole World Must See That Israel Must Exist And Has The Right To Exist, And Is One Of The Great Outposts Of Democracy In The World.
Israel
Mind Blowing
Democracy
Every Person Must Stand Up And Be Accountable, But Be Responsible For Their Actions.
Action
Responsible
Being Responsible
An Individual Who Breaks A Law That Conscience Tells Him Is Unjust, And Who Willingly Accepts The Penalty Of Imprisonment In Order To Arouse The Conscience Of The Community Over Its Injustice, Is In Reality Expressing The Highest Respect For The Law.
Motivational
Respect
Kings
I Still Believe That Standing Up For The Truth Of God Is The Greatest Thing In The World. This Is The End (purpose) Of Life. The End Of Life Is Not To Be Happy. The End Of Life Is Not To Achieve Pleasure And Avoid Pain. The End Of Life Is To Do The Will Of God, Come What May.
Life
Wisdom
Pain
My Place Is In The Sunlight Of Opportunity.
Opportunity
Sunlight
The Ultimate Solution To The Race Problem Lies In The Willingness Of Men To Obey The Unenforceable.
Lying
Men
Race
I Do Think There Must Be Centralized Leadership In The Sense That, Say, In Our Struggle All Of The Leaders Coordinate Their Efforts, Cooperate And, And At Least Evince A Degree Of Unity.
Struggle
Thinking
Effort
Life Isn't Worth Living Until You Have Found Something Worth Dying For.
Inspirational
Dying
Found
By...our Readiness To Allow Arms To Be Purchased At Will And Fired At Whim; By Allowing Our Movie And Television Screens To Teach Our Children That The Hero Is One Who Masters The Art Of Shooting And The Technique Of Killing...we Have Created An Atmosphere In Which Violence And Hatred Have Become Popular Pastimes.
Art
Children
Hero
Certainly I'm Not Saying That You Sit Down And Patiently Accept Injustice. I'm Talking About A Very Strong Force, Where You Stand Up With All Your Might Against An Evil System, And You Are Not A Coward.
Strong
Talking
Evil
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?'
Two
Iron
Oil
One Has A Moral Responsibility To Disobey Unjust Laws.
Inspirational
Religious
Responsibility
As The Weeks And Months Unfolded, We Realized That We Were The Victims Of A Broken Promise.
Inspirational
Broken
Promise
Shallow Understanding From People Of Good Will Is More Frustrating Than Absolute Misunderstanding From People Of Ill Will.
Kings
Ill Will
People
The Strong Man Holds In A Living Blend Strongly Marked Opposites. The Idealists Are Not Usually Realistic, And The Realists Are Not Usually Idealistic. The Militant Are Not Generally Known To Be Passive, Nor The Passive To Be Militant. Seldom Are The Humble Self-assertive, Or The Self-assertive Humble. But Life At It's Best Is A Creative Synthesis Of Opposites In Fruitful Harmony.
Strong
Humble
Men
By Nonviolent Resistance, The Negro Can Also Enlist All Men Of Good Will In His Struggle For Equality.
Inspirational
Struggle
Men
Freedom Only Comes Through Persistent Revolt, Through Persistent Agitation, Through Persistently Rising Up Against The System Of Evil.
Rising Up
Evil
Agitation
The Negroes Of America Had Taken The President, The Press And The Pulpit At Their Word When They Spoke In Broad Terms Of Freedom And Justice. But The Absence Of Brutality And Unregenerate Evil Is Not The Presence Of Justice. To Stay Murder Is Not The Same Thing As To Ordain Brotherhood.
Taken
America
Evil
I Have Decided To Love. If You Are Seeking The Highest Good, I Think You Can Find It Through Love. God Is Love.
Thinking
God Love
God Is Love
We Still Have A Choice Today: Nonviolence Coesistence Or Violent Coannihilation.
Peace
Choices
Today
I Have Almost Reached The Regrettable Conclusion That The Negro's Great Stumbling Block In The Stride Toward Freedom Is Not The White Citizens Councilor Or The Ku Klux Klanner But The White Moderate Who Is More Devoted To Order Than To Justice; Who Prefers A Negative Peace Which Is The Absence Of Tension To A Positive Peace Which Is The Presence Of Justice.
Peace
Block
Order
We Stand In Life At Midnight; We Are Always At The Threshold Of A New Dawn.
Hope
Dawn
Midnight
Agape Is Disinterested Love. . . . Agape Does Not Begin By Discriminating Between Worthy And Unworthy People, Or Any Qualities People Possess. It Begins By Loving Others For Their Sakes. . . . Therefore, Agape Makes No Distinction Between Friend And Enemy; It Is Directed Toward Both.
Faith
People
Enemy
It's Not Burn Baby Burn, But Learn, Baby, Learn, So That You Can Earn, Baby, Earn.
Education
Baby
Money
I Am Now Convinced That The Simplest Approach Will Prove To Be The Most Effective -- The Solution To Poverty Is To Abolish It Directly By A Now Widely Discussed Measure: The Guaranteed Income.
Income
Poverty
Prove
Capitalism Is Always In Danger Of Inspiring Men To Be More Concerned About Making A Living Than Making A Life. We Are Prone To Judge Success By The Index Of Our Salaries Or The Size Of Our Automobiles, Rather Than By The Quality Of Our Service And Relationship To Humanity-thus Capitalism Can Lead To A Practical Materialism That Is As Pernicious As The Materialism Taught By Communism.
Wisdom
Men
Judging
Whatever We Do, We Must Keep God In The Forefront. Let Us Be Christian In All Of Our Actions. But I Want To Tell You This Evening That It Is Not Enough For Us To Talk About Love, Love Is One Of The Pivotal Points Of The Christian Face, Faith. There Is Another Side Called Justice. And Justice Is Really Love In Calculation. Justice Is Love Correcting That Which Revolts Against Love.
Inspiring
Christian
Love Is
Are You Able To Accept Blows Without Retaliating?" And "are You Able To Endure The Ordeals Of Jail?"
Inspirational
Blow
Jail
In Order To Be True To One's Conscience And True To God, A Righteous Man Has No Alternative But To Refuse To Cooperate With An Evil System.
Men
Righteous Man
Order
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.
Democracy
Individualism
Communism
We Aren't Going To Have Peace On Earth Until We Recognize The Basic Fact Of The Interrelated Structure Of All Reality.
Reality
Earth
Eating Breakfast
On Some Positions, Cowardice Asks The Question, Is It Expedient? And Then Expedience Comes Along And Asks The Question, Is It Politic? Vanity Asks The Question, Is It Popular? Conscience Asks The Question, Is It Right? There Comes A Time When One Must Take The Position That Is Neither Safe Nor Politic Nor Popular, But He Must Do It Because Conscience Tells Him It Is Right.
Life
Courage
Time
The Group Consisting Of Mother, Father And Child Is The Main Educational Agency Of Mankind.
Education
Mother
Children
You Can Have No Influence Over Those For Whom You Have Underlying Contempt.
Judgement
Influence
Nonviolent Communication
Darkness Cannot Be Overcome With More Darkness, Only With Light. Violence Cannot Be Overcome With More Violence, Only With Peace.
Light
Darkness
Overcoming
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. I Believe That What Self-centered Men Have Torn Down Men Other-centered Can Build Up. I Still Believe That One Day Mankind Will Bow Before The Altars Of God And Be Crowned Triumphant Over War And Bloodshed, And Nonviolent Redemptive Good Will Proclaim The Rule Of The Land.
Peace
War
Believe
The Self Cannot Be Self Without Other Selves.
Self
When We Ask Negroes To Abide By The Law, Let Us Also Declare That The White Man Does Not Abide By Law In The Ghettos. Day In And Day Out He Violates Welfare Laws To Deprive The Poor Of Their Meager Allotments; He Flagrantly Violates Building Codes And Regulations; His Police Make A Mockery Of Law; He Violates Laws On Equal Employment And Education And The Provisions Of Civil Services. The Slums Are The Handiwork Of A Vicious System Of The White Society; Negroes Live In Them, But They Do Not Make Them, Any More Than A Prisoner Makes A Prison.
Ghetto
Men
White
All Progress Is Precarious, And The Solution Of One Problem Brings Us Face To Face With Another Problem.
Decision
Progress
Faces
I Also Came To See That Liberalism's Superficial Optimism Concerning Human Nature Caused It To Overlook The Fact That Reason Is Darkened By Sin. The More I Thought About Human Nature The More I Saw How Our Tragic Inclination For Sin Causes Us To Use Our Minds To Rationalize Our Actions. Liberalism Failed To See That Reason By Itself Is Little More Than An Instrument To Justify Man's Defensive Ways Of Thinking. Reason, Devoid Of The Purifying Power Of Faith, Can Never Free Itself From Distortions And Rationalizations.
Thinking
Men
Optimism
Segregation Is The Adultery Of An Illicit Intercourse Between Injustice And Immorality.
Injustice
Adultery
Segregation
It's Just As Evil To Kill Vietnamese As It Is To Kill Americans.
Wisdom
Fun
Evil
The Darkness Of Racial Injustice Will Be Dispelled Only By The Light Of Forgiving Love. For More That Three Centuries American Negroes Have Been Frustrated By Day And Bewilderment By Night By Unbearable Injustice, And Burdened With The Ugly Weight Of Discrimination. Forced To Live With These Shameful Conditions, We Are Tempted To Become Bitter And Retaliate With A Corresponding Hate. But If This Happens, The New Order We Seek Will Be Little More Than A Duplicate Of The Old Order. We Must In Strength And Humility Meet Hate With Love.
Hate
Humility
Night
We Did Not Hesitate To Call Our Movement An Army. But It Was A Special Army, With No Supplies But Its Sincerity, No Uniform But Its Determination, No Arsenal Except Its Faith, No Currency But Its Conscience.
Determination
Army
Special
Many People Fear Nothing More Terribly Than To Take A Position Which Stands Out Sharply And Clearly From The Prevailing Opinion. The Tendency Of Most Is To Adopt A View That Is So Ambiguous That It Will Include Everything And So Popular That It Will Include Everybody. Not A Few Men Who Cherish Lofty And Noble Ideals Hide Them Under A Bushel For Fear Of Being Called Different.
Men
Views
People
As Long As The Mind Is Enslaved, The Body Can Never Be Free.
Long
Mind
Body
I Think That My Strong Determination For Justice Comes From The Very Strong, Dynamic Personality Of My Father ... I Have Rarely Ever Met A Person More Fearless And Courageous Than My Father ... The Thing That I Admire Most About My Dad Is His Genuine Christian Character. He Is A Man Of Real Integrity, Deeply Committed To Moral And Ethical Principles. He Is Conscientious In All Of His Undertakings ... If I Had A Problem I Could Always Call Daddy.
Christian
Fathers Day
Strong
It Is Quite Easy For Me To Think Of A God Of Love Mainly Because I Grew Up In A Family Where Love Was Central And Where Lovely Relationships Were Ever Present.
Love
Thinking
Easy
I Would Urge You To Give Priority To The Search For God. Allow His Spirit To Permeate Your Being. ... If You Do Not Have A Deep And Patient Faith In God, You Will Be Powerless To Face The Delays, Disappointments, And Vicissitudes That Inevitably Come.
Disappointment
Giving
Priorities
Find A Voice In A Whisper.
Voice
If You Lose Hope, Somehow You Lose The Vitality That Keeps Moving, You Lose That Courage To Be, That Quality That Helps You Go On In Spite Of It All. And So Today I Still Have A Dream.
Inspiring
Moving On
Dream
Almost Always, The Creative Dedicated Minority Has Made The World Better.
Change
Inspiring
Creativity
The End Of Violence Or The Aftermath Of Violence Is Bitterness. The Aftermath Of Nonviolence Is Reconciliation And The Creation Of A Beloved Community. A Boycott Is Never An End Within Itself. It Is Merely A Means To Awaken A Sense Of Shame Within The Oppressor But The End Is Reconciliation, The End Is Redemption.
Mean
Beloved Community
Aftermath
Success, Recognition, And Conformity Are The Bywords Of The Modern World Where Everyone Seems To Crave The Anesthetizing Security Of Being Identified With The Majority.
Success
Wisdom
World
Whatever Affects One Directly Affects All Indirectly.
Inspirational
Kings
Destiny
Everyone Has The Power For Greatness, Not For Fame But Greatness, Because Greatness Is Determined By Service.
Greatness
Determined
Fame
True Compassion Is More Than Throwing A Coin To A Beggar. It Demands Of Our Humanity That If We Live In A Society That Produces Beggars, We Are Morally Commanded To Restructure That Society.
Compassion
Humanity
Coins
We Have Waited For More Than Three Hundred And Forty Years For Our Constitutional And God-given Rights.
Rights
Years
Three
Our Only Hope Today Lies In Our Ability To Recapture The Revolutionary Spirit And Go Out Into A Sometimes Hostile World Declaring Eternal Hostility To Poverty, Racism, And Militarism... We Are Now Faced With The Fact, My Friends, That Tomorrow Is Today. We Are Confronted With The Fierce Urgency Of Now.
Lying
Hero
Racism
Today, Our Very Survival Depends On Our Ability To Stay Awake, To Adjust To New Ideas, To Remain Vigilant And To Face The Challenge Of Change.
Change
Ideas
Challenges
We All Can't Be Famous But We Can All Be Great And We Become Great When We Serve Others
There's Something About Love That Builds Up And Is Creative. There Is Something About Hate That Tears Down And Is Destructive. So Love Your Enemies.
Hate
Love You
Creative
Power Properly Understood Is Nothing But The Ability To Achieve Purpose. It Is The Strength Required To Bring About Social, Political And Economic Change.
Change
Strong
Power
I Am Thankful, However, That Some Of Our White Brothers Have Grasped The Meaning Of This Social Revolution And Committed Themselves To It. They Are Still All Too Small In Quantity, But They Are Big In Quality.
Inspirational
Brother
White
It Is My Hope That As The Negro Plunges Deeper Into The Quest For Freedom And Justice He Will Plunge Even Deeper Into The Philosophy Of Non-violence.
Philosophy
Justice
Quests
It Is A Strangely Irrational Notion That There Is Something In The Very Flow Of Time That Will Inevitably Cure All Ills. Actually Time Is Neutral. It Can Be Used Either Destructively Or Constructively. I Am Coming To Feel That The People Of Ill Will Have Used Time Much More Effectively Than The People Of Good Will. We Will Have To Repent In This Generation Not Merely For The Vitriolic Words And Actions Of The Bad People, But For The Appalling Silence Of The Good People.
Time
Ill Will
People
A Nation Or Civilization That Continues To Produce Soft-minded Men Purchases Its Own Spiritual Death On The Installment Plan.
Motivational
Spiritual
Men
We Must Build Dikes Of Courage To Hold Back The Flood Of Fear.
Encouragement
Fear
Patriotic
Violence Never Brings Permanent Peace. It Solves No Social Problem: It Merely Creates New And More Complicated Ones.
Inspirational
Violence
Problem
A Riot Is The Language Of The Unheard.
Inspirational
Kings
Race Riots
Man Must Never Be Treated As A Means To The End Of The State, But Always As An End Within Himself.
Mean
Men
Ends
I Just Want To Leave A Committed Life Behind.
Want
Committed
Drum Major
No One Really Knows Why They Are Alive Until They Know What They'd Die For.
Inspirational
Death
Memorable
In Any Nonviolent Campaign There Are Four Basic Steps: Collection Of The Facts To Determine Whether Injustices Exist; Negotiation; Self-purification; And Direct Action.
Self
Direct Action
Campaigns
Education Without Social Action Is A One-sided Value Because It Has No True Power Potential.
True Power
Sophistry
Action
I Say To You That Our Goal Is Freedom, And I Believe We Are Going To Get There Because However Much She Strays Away From It, The Goal Of America Is Freedom.
Believe
America
Goal
Now Is The Time To Rise From The Dark And Desolate Valley Of Segregation To The Sunlit Path Of Racial Justice.
Dark
Justice
Path
We Have No Honorable Intentions In Vietnam. Our Minimal Expectation Is To Occupy It As An American Colony And Maintain Social Stability For Our Investments. This Tells Why American Helicopters Are Being Used Against Guerrillas In Colombia And Peru. Increasingly The Role Our Nation Has Taken Is The Role Of Those Who Refuse To Give Up The Privileges And Pleasures That Come From The Immense Profits Of Overseas Investment.
Giving Up
Taken
America
The Time Has Come For America To Hear The Truth About This Tragic War. In International Conflicts, The Truth Is Hard To Come By Because Most Nations Are Deceived About Themselves. Rationalizations And The Incessant Search For Scapegoats Are The Psychological Cataracts That Blind Us To Our Sins. But The Day Has Passed For Superficial Patriotism. He Who Lives With Untruth Lives In Spiritual Slavery.
Spiritual
War
America
I Had A Very Depressing Response Because I Realized That These Were My Own People, These Were Negroes Throwing Eggs At Me. I'm Concerned About The Fact That Maybe All Of Us Have Contributed To This By Not Working Harder To Get Rid Of The Conditions, The Poverty, The Social Isolation, And All Of The Conditions That Cause Individuals To Respond Like This.
Depressing
Eggs
People
One Of These Days I'm Going To Put My Body Where My Mind Is.
Mind
Body
These Days
Now Is The Time To Make Justice A Reality For All Of God's Children.
Children
Reality
Justice
A Man Does Not Measure Its Height In Moments Of Comfort, But In Terms Of Change And Controversy
Men
Comfort
Doe
I'm Concerned About Justice. I'm Concerned About Brotherhood. I'm Concerned About Truth. And When One Is Concerned About These, He Can Never Advocate Violence.
Justice
Brotherhood
Violence
I Still Believe That One Day Mankind Will Bow Before The Altars Of God And Be Crowned Triumphant Over War And Bloodshed, And Nonviolent Redemptive Goodwill Will Proclaim The Rule Of The Land.
War
Believe
Land
When Negroes Looked For The Second Phase, The Realization Of Equality, They Found That Many Of Their White Allies Had Quietly Disappeared.... To Stay Murder Is Not The Same Thing As To Ordain Brotherhood.
White
Brotherhood
Allies
Ten Thousand Fools Proclaim Themselves Into Obscurity, While One Wise Man Forgets Himself Into Immortality.
Wise
Men
Obscurity
I Always Had A Deep Affection For Malcolm And Felt That He Had A Great Ability To Put His Finger On The Existence And The Root Of The Problem. He Was An Eloquent Spokesman For His Point Of View And No One Can Honestly Doubt That Malcolm Had A Great Concern For The Problems We Face As A Race.
Deep Affection
Race
Views
As I Like To Say To The People In Montgomery: "the Tension In This City Is Not Between White People And Negro People. The Tension Is, At Bottom, Between Justice And Injustice, Between The Forces Of Light And The Forces Of Darkness.
Light
Cities
White
Somehow We Must Transform The Dynamics Of The World Power Struggle From The Negative Nuclear Arms Race Which No One Can Win To A Positive Contest To Harness Man's Creative Genius For The Purpose Of Making Peace And Prosperity A Reality For All Of The Nations Of The World.
Peace
Struggle
Creativity
Agape Means Recognition Of The Fact That All Life Is Interrelated. All Humanity Is Involved In A Single Process, And All Men Are Brothers. To The Degree That I Harm My Brother, No Matter What He Is Doing To Me, To That Extent I Am Harming Myself.
Wisdom
Brother
Mean
Before The Pilgrims Landed At Plymouth, We Were Here. Before The Pen Of Jefferson Etched Across The Pages Of History The Majestic Words Of The Declaration Of Independence, We Were Here. If The Inexpressible Cruelties Of Slavery Could Not Stop Us, The Opposition We Now Face Will Surely Fail. We Will Win Our Freedom Because The Sacred Heritage Of Our Nation And The Eternal Will Of God Are Embodied In Our Echoing Demands.
Winning
Independence
Majestic
The Means By Which We Live Have Outdistanced The Ends For Which We Live.
Inspirational Life
Mean
Ends
Faith Is Taking The First Step Even When You Don't See The Whole Staircase.
Inspirational
Motivational
Change
The Greatest Purveyor Of Violence In The World : My Own Government, I Can Not Be Silent.
Inspirational
Peace
Government
When We Look At Modern Man, We Have To Face The Fact...that Modern Man Suffers From A Kind Of Poverty Of The Spirit, Which Stands In Glaring Contrast To His Scientific And Technological Abundance; We've Learned To Fly The Air Like Birds, We've Learned To Swim The Seas Like Fish, And Yet We Haven't Learned To Walk The Earth As Brothers And Sisters.
Wisdom
Brother
Anger
You Cannot Defect Form An Insight. You Cannot Unsee What You Have Seen.
Form
Insight
Defects
If America's Soul Becomes Totally Poisoned, Part Of The Autopsy Must Read Vietnam. It Can Never Be Saved So Long As It Destroys The Hopes Of Men The World Over.
Men
America
Long
Have We Not Come To Such An Impasse In The Modern World That We Must Love Our Enemies - Or Else? The Chain Reaction Of Evil - Hate Begetting Hate, Wars Producing More Wars - Must Be Broken, Or Else We Shall Be Plunged Into The Dark Abyss Of Annihilation.
Love
Hate
War
The More There Are Riots, The More Repressive Actin Will Take Place, And The More We Face The Danger Of A Right-wing Takeover And Eventually A Fascist Society.
Wings
Faces
Revolution
It Is Not A Sign Of Weakness, But A Sign Of High Maturity, To Rise To The Level Of Self-criticism.
Maturity
Self
Criticism
War Is A Poor Chisel To Carve Out Tomorrow.
Funny
War
Tomorrow
Men Often Hate Each Other Because They Fear Each Other; They Fear Each Other Because They Don't Know Each Other; They Don't Know Each Other Because They Can Not Communicate; They Can Not Communicate Because They Are Separated.
Inspiring
Fear
Hate
We Need To Recapture The Gospel Glow Of The Early Christians Who Were Nonconformists In The Truest Sense Of The Word . . . Their Powerful Gospel Put An End To Such Barbaric Evils As Infanticide And Bloody Gladiatorial Contests. Finally, They Captured The Roman Empire For Jesus Christ.
Christian
Jesus
Powerful
The Only Weapon That We Have In Our Hands This Evening Is The Weapon Of Protest. That's All.
Hands
Weapons
Evening
You Cannot Solve The Problem By Turning To Communism, For Communism Is Based On An Ethical Relativism And A Metaphysical Materialism That No Christian Can Accept.
Christian
Problem
Materialism
Voting Is The Foundation Stone For Political Action.
Political
Voting
Foundation
But I Say To You, My Friends, There Are Certain Things In Our Nation And In The World Which I Am Proud To Be Maladjusted And Which I Hope All Men Of Good-will Will Be Maladjusted Until The Good Societies Realize.
Inspirational
Men
World
The Real Problem Is That Through Our Scientific Genius We’ve Made Of The World A Neighborhood, But Through Our Moral And Spiritual Genius We’ve Failed To Make Of It A Brotherhood.
Spiritual
Real
Brotherhood
Understanding Quotes: Their Essence and Application

Quotes, or quotations, are powerful tools in communication, encapsulating ideas, emotions, and wisdom in concise expressions. They serve various purposes across different contexts, from academic writing to everyday conversation.

1. Defining Quotes

A quote is a repetition of someone else's statement or thoughts. It can be a direct replication of words spoken or written by another individual, often used to support arguments, provide evidence, or convey profound insights.


2. The Importance of Quotes

2.1. Enhancing Credibility

Incorporating quotes from authoritative sources can bolster the credibility of your work. By referencing experts or primary sources, you demonstrate thorough research and a solid foundation for your arguments.


2.2. Providing Evidence

Quotes serve as concrete evidence to support claims. In academic and professional writing, they validate points made, offering readers a basis to trust the information presented.


2.3. Conveying Emotions and Perspectives

Quotes can encapsulate emotions and perspectives succinctly. They allow writers to express complex feelings or viewpoints through the words of others, often more eloquently than paraphrasing.


3. Types of Quotes

3.1. Direct Quotes

Direct quotes involve copying the exact words from a source, enclosed in quotation marks. They are used when the original wording is significant or particularly well-expressed.


3.2. Indirect Quotes (Paraphrasing)

Indirect quotes restate the original message in your own words. While not enclosed in quotation marks, they still require proper attribution to the original source.


3.3. Block Quotes

Block quotes are lengthy direct quotations, formatted as a separate block of text. They are typically used for quotes exceeding a certain length, varying by citation style. For instance, in APA style, quotes longer than 40 words are formatted as block quotes.



4. Proper Usage of Quotes


4.1. Contextual Relevance

Ensure that the quote you choose is relevant to the topic and adds value to your content. Avoid inserting quotes solely for decorative purposes.


4.2. Integration into Your Writing

Seamlessly integrate quotes into your writing. Introduce them appropriately and follow up with analysis or commentary to connect them to your main points.


4.3. Attribution and Citation

Always attribute quotes to their original authors and provide proper citations according to the required style guide (APA, MLA, Chicago, etc.).


5. Common Mistakes to Avoid


5.1. Overusing Quotes

Relying too heavily on quotes can overshadow your voice. Use them sparingly to support your arguments, not replace them.


5.2. Lack of Analysis

Presenting a quote without analysis or explanation can leave readers questioning its relevance. Always follow up with your interpretation or discussion.


5.3. Misquoting or Taking Out of Context

Ensure that quotes are accurate and not taken out of context, as this can mislead readers and undermine your credibility.



6. Quotes in Different Contexts


6.1. Academic Writing

In academic writing, quotes are used to support arguments, provide evidence, and engage with existing literature. Proper citation is crucial to avoid plagiarism.


6.2. Journalism

Journalists use quotes to provide firsthand accounts, add authenticity, and present multiple perspectives within a story.


6.3. Literature and Creative Writing

In literature, quotes can be used to convey character voices, themes, and stylistic elements. They enrich narratives and provide depth to storytelling.



7. Punctuation and Formatting


Understanding the correct punctuation and formatting of quotes is essential:


Quotation Marks: Always enclose direct quotes within quotation marks.


Punctuation Placement: In American English, periods and commas are placed inside quotation marks, while colons and semicolons are placed outside.


Block Quotes: For longer quotes, format them as block quotes without quotation marks, and indent the entire block.



8. Ethical Considerations


Ethical use of quotes involves accurate representation, proper attribution, and respect for intellectual property. Misuse can lead to plagiarism, which carries serious academic and professional consequences.

9. Tools for Managing Quotes


Utilize tools like citation generators and plagiarism checkers to manage quotes effectively. These tools help ensure proper formatting and originality in your writing.



Conclusion


Quotes are invaluable in enriching content, providing evidence, and conveying complex ideas succinctly. When used appropriately, they enhance the quality and credibility of your writing. Always ensure relevance, proper integration, and ethical usage to maximize their impact.


Trending Author
Pierre Bonnard
Louisa May Alcott
Caroline B. Cooney
Rachel Nichols
David R. Brower
Wallis Simpson
Category
Information