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I Am Indebted To My Wife Coretta, Without Whose Love, Sacrifices, And Loyalty Neither Life Nor Work Would Bring Fulfillment. She Has Given Me Words Of Consolation When I Needed Them And A Well-ordered Home Where #christian Love Is A Reality.
-Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I Am Indebted To

Martin Luther King, Jr.
I Am Indebted To My Wife Coretta, Without Whose Love, Sacrifices, And Loyalty Neither Life Nor Work Would Bring Fulfillment. She Has Given Me Words Of Consolation When I Needed Them And A Well-ordered Home Where #christian Love Is A Reality.
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Most Of These People Will Never Make The Headlines And Their Names Will Not Appear In Who's Who. Yet When Years Have Rolled Past And When The Blazing Light Of Truth Is Focused On This Marvelous Age In Which We Live - Men And Women Will Know And Children Will Be Taught That We Have A Finer Land, A Better People, A More Noble Civilization - Because These Humble Children Of God Were Willing To Suffer For Righteousness' Sake.
Children
Humble
Past
Whenever The Early Christians Entered A Town The Power Structure Got Disturbed And Immediately Sought To Convict Them For Being "disturbers Of The Peace" And "outside Agitators." But They Went On With The Conviction That They Were "a Colony Of Heaven," And Had To Obey God Rather Than Man. They Were Small In Number But Big In Commitment. They Were Too God-intoxicated To Be "astronomically Intimidated." They Brought An End To Such Ancient Evils As Infanticide And Gladiatorial Contest.
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We Are Now Faced With The Fact That Tomorrow Is Today. We Are Confronted With The Fierce Urgency Of Now. In This Unfolding Conundrum Of Life And History, There "is" Such A Thing As Being Too Late. This Is No Time For Apathy Or Complacency. This Is A Time For Vigorous And Postive Action.
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Was Not Abraham Lincoln An Extremist? - "this Nation Cannot Survive Half Slave And Half Free."
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The Negro Cannot Win The Respect Of His Oppressor By Acquiescing; He Merely Increases The Oppressor's Arrogance And Contempt.
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Injustice And Corruption Will Never Be Transformed By Keeping Them Hidden, But Only By Bringing Them Out Into The Light And Confronting Them With The Power Of Love.
Light
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Corruption
The Curse Of Poverty Has No Justification In Our Age. It Is Socially As Cruel And Blind As The Practice Of Cannibalism At The Dawn Of Civilization, When Men Ate Each Other Because They Had Not Yet Learned To Take Food From The Soil Or To Consume The Abundant Animal Life Around Them. The Time Has Come For Us To Civilize Ourselves By The Total, Direct And Immediate Abolition Of Poverty.
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If I Were Constantly Worried About Death, I Couldn't Function. After A While, If Your Life Is More Or Less Constantly In Peril, You Come To A Point Where You Accept The Possibility Philosophically.
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Courage Faces Fear And Thereby Masters It
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We Must Follow Nonviolence And Love.
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The Marvelous New Militancy Which Has Engulfed The Negro Community Must Not Lead Us To A Distrust Of All White People, For Many Of Our White Brothers, As Evidenced By Their Presence Here Today, Have Come To Realize That Their Destiny Is Tied Up With Our Destiny And Their Freedom Is Inextricably Bound To Our Freedom.
Brother
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The Words 'bad Timing' Came To Be Ghosts Haunting Our Every Move In Birmingham. Yet People Who Used This Argument Were Ignorant Of The Background Of Our Planning...they Did Not Realize That It Was Ridiculous To Speak Of Timing When The Clock Of History Showed That The Negro Had Already Suffered One Hundred Years Of Delay.
Moving
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Actually, We Who Engage In Nonviolent Direct Action Are Not The Creators Of Tension. We Merely Bring To The Surface The Hidden Tension That Is Already Alive. We Bring It Out In The Open, Where It Can Be Seen And Dealt With. Like A Boil That Can Never Be Cured So Long As It Is Covered Up But Must Be Opened With An Its Ugliness To The Natural Medicines Of Air And Light, Injustice Must Be Exposed, With All The Tension Its Exposure Creates, To The Light Of Human Conscience And The Air Of National Opinion Before It Can Be Cured.
Covered Up
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The White Poor Also Suffer Deprivation And The Humiliation Of Poverty If Not Of Color. They Are Chained By The Weight Of Discrimination Though Its Badge Of Degradation Does Not Mark Them. It Corrupts Their Lives, Frustrates Their Opportunities And Withers Their Education. In One Sense It Is More Evil For Them Because It Has Confused So Many By Prejudice That They Have Supported Their Own Oppressors.
Confused
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Justice Too Long Delayed Is Justice Denied.
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This Faith Transforms The Whirlwind Of Despair Into A Warm And Reviving Breeze Of Hope. The Words Of A Motto Which A Generation Ago Were Commonly Found On The Wall In The Homes Of Devout Persons Need To Be Etched On Our Hearts: Fear Knocked At The Door. Faith Answered. There Was No One There.
Wall
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Heart
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
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Ten Thousand Fools Proclaim Themselves Into Obscurity, While One Wise Man Forgets Himself Into Immortality.
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There Is Something Wrong With Our World, Something Fundamentally And Basically Wrong.
Our World
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Wars Are Poor Chisels For Carving Out Peaceful Tomorrows.
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It May Be True That The Law Cannot Change The Heart But It Can Restrain The Heartless.
Heart
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If I Sought To Answer All Of The Criticisms That Cross My Desk, My Secretaries Would Be Engaged In Little Else In The Course Of The Day, And I Would Have No Time For Constructive Work.
Inspirational
Criticism
Would Be
... The Right To Defend One's Home And One's Person When Attacked Has Been Guaranteed Through The Ages By Common Law.
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But By All Means, Keep Moving.
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"i Criticize America Because I Love Her. I Want Her To Stand As A Moral Example To The World."
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Nonviolent Direct Action Seeks To Create Such A Crisis And Establish Such Creative Tension That A Community That Has Consistently Refused To Negotiate Is Forced To Confront The Issue.
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If A Man Has Not Discovered Anything So Dying Is Not Worth Living
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Love Is A Usually Force Able Of Transforming An Rivalry Into Friend.
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But Though I Was Initially Disappointed At Being Categorized As An Extremist, As I Continued To Think About The Matter I Gradually Gained A Measure Of Satisfaction From The Label. Was Not Jesus An Extremist For Love: “love Your Enemies, Bless Them That Curse You, Do Good To Them That Hate You, And Pray For Them Which Despitefully Use You, And Persecute You.”
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True Compassion Is More Than Flinging A Coin To A Beggar; It Comes To See That An Edifice Which Produces Beggars Needs Restructuring.
Inspirational
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Inspiring
Wisdom
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Never Forget That Everything Hitler Did In Germany Was Legal.
Tyrants
Libertarian Party
Thought Provoking
Returning Violence For Violence Multiplies Violence, Adding Deeper Darkness To A Night Already Devoid Of Stars.
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Without Love, There Is No Reason To Know Anyone, For Love Will In The End Connect Us To Our Neighbors, Our Children And Our Hearts.
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Reason
I Have A Dream That One Day, Down In Alabama, With Its Vicious Racists, With Its Governor Having His Lips Dripping With The Words Of "interposition" And "nullification" - One Day Right There In Alabama Little Black Boys And Black Girls Will Be Able To Join Hands With Little White Boys And White Girls As Sisters And Brothers.
Girl
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Brother
Now Let Us Begin. Now Let Us Rededicate Ourselves To The Long And Bitter - But Beautiful - Struggle For A New World.
Beautiful
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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.
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Let Us Rise Up Tonight With A Greater Readiness. Let Us Stand With A Greater Determination. And Let Us Move On In These Powerful Days, These Days Of Challenge To Make America What It Ought To Be. We Have An Opportunity To Make America A Better Nation.
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When I Took Up The Cross I Recognized It's Meaning. The Cross Is Something That You Bear, And Ultimately, That You Die On.
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I've Told The Kids In The Ghettos That Violence Won't Solve Their Problems, But Then They Ask Me, And Rightly So; "why Does The Government Use Massive Doses Of Violence To Bring About The Change It Wants In The World?" After This I Knew That I Could No Longer Speak Against The Violence In The Ghettos Without Also Speaking Against The Violence Of My Government.
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The Question Is No Longer Between Violence And Non-violence It Is Between Non-violence And Non-existence.
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The Negro Needs The White Man To Free Him From His Fears. The White Man Needs The Negro To Free Him From His Guilt.
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The Nations Of Asia And Africa Are Moving With Jetlike Speed Toward The Goal Of Political Independence, And We Still Creep At Horse-and-buggy Pace Toward The Gaining Of A Cup Of Coffee At A Lunch Counter.
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We Must Dispel The Negative And Harmful Atmosphere That Has Been Created By Avaricious And Unprincipled Realtors Who Engage In "blockbusting." If We Had In America Really Serious Efforts To Break Down Discrimination In Housing, And At The Same Time A Concerted Program Of Government Aid To Improve Housing For Negroes, I Think That Many White People Would Be Surprised At How Many Negroes Would Choose To Live Among Themselves, Exactly As Poles And Jews And Other Ethnic Groups Do.
Thinking
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Want
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A Man Dies When He Refuses To Stand Up For That Which Is Right. A Man Dies When He Refuses To Stand Up For Justice. A Man Dies When He Refuses To Take A Stand For That Which Is True.
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I Would Be The Last To Condemn The Thousands Of Sincere And Dedicated People Outside The Churches Who Have Labored Unselfishly Through Various Humanitarian Movements To Cure The World Of Social Evils, For I Would Rather A Man Be A Committed Humanist Than An Uncommitted Christian.
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It's Not How Long You Live, It's How Well You Live.
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The Bombs In Vietnam Explode At Home; They Destroy The Hopes And Possibilities For A Decent America.
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War
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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
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Human Salvation Lies In The Hands Of The Creatively Maladjusted.
Sad
Business
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Every Man Of Humane Convictions Must Decide On The Protest That Best Suits His Convictions, But We Must All Protest.
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Cowardice Is Submissive Surrender To Circumstances.
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I Refuse To Accept The Idea That The “isness” Of Man's Present Nature Makes Him Morally Incapable Of Reaching Up For The Eternal “oughtness” That Forever Confronts Him.
Men
Reaching Up
Ideas
The Function Of Education Is To Teach One To Think Intensively And To Think Critically. Intelligence Plus Character - That Is The Goal Of True Education.
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When Evil Men Plot, Good Men Must Plan. When Evil Men Burn And Bomb, Good Men Must Build And Bind. When Evil Men Shout Ugly Words Of Hatred, Good Men Must Commit Themselves To The Glories Of Love.
Life Changing
Men
Evil
You're As Good As Anybody.
Essence
Carve A Tunnel Of Hope Through The Dark Mountain Of Disappointment.
Inspirational
Disappointment
Life Changing
And You Know, It's Possible That The Priest And The Levite Looked Over That Man On The Ground And Wondered If The Robbers Were Still Around. Or It's Possible That They Felt That The Man On The Ground Was Merely Faking. And He Was Acting Like He Had Been Robbed And Hurt, In Order To Seize Them Over There, Lure Them There For Quick And Easy Seizure. And So The First Question That The Levite Asked Was, "if I Stop To Help This Man, What Will Happen To Me?" But Then The Good Samaritan Came By. And He Reversed The Question: "if I Do Not Stop To Help This Man, What Will Happen To Him?
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Men
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And When You Discover What You Will Be In Your Life, Set Out To Do It As If God Almighty Called You At This Particular Moment In History To Do It. Don't Just Set Out To Do A Good Job.
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We Must Have The Faith That Things Will Work Out Somehow, That God Will Make A Way For Us When There Seems No Way.
Work Out
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Spirituality
Non-violent Direct Action Seeks To Create Such A Crisis And Establish Such Creative Tension That A Community That Has Constantly Refused To Negotiate Is Forced To Confront The Issue. It Seeks So To Dramatize The Issue That It Can No Longer Be Ignored... I Am Not Afraid Of The Word Tension. I Have Earnestly Worked And Preached Against Violent Tension, And There Is A Type Of Constructive Tension That Is Necessary For Growth.
Direct Action
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Procrastinatio N Is Still The Thief Of Time.
Thieves
Stills
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
What Are You Doing For Others?
Kings
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Volunteer
When People Get Caught Up With That Which Is Right And They Are Willing To Sacrifice For It, There Is No Stopping Point Short Of Victory.
Determination
Business
Believe
There Is Something In The Soul That Cries Out For Freedom.
Soul
Cry
We Will Not Be Satisfied Until Justice Rolls Down Like Waters.
Justice
Water
I Have A Dream Speech
By Nonviolent Resistance, The Negro Can Also Enlist All Men Of Good Will In His Struggle For Equality.
Inspirational
Struggle
Men
We Know Nothing About Africa, Although Our Roots Are There In Terms Of Our Forbearers. But I Mean As Far As The Average Negro Today, He Knows Nothing About Africa. And I Think He's Got To Face The Fact That He Is An American, His Culture Is Basically American, And One Becomes Adjusted To This When He Realizes What, What He Is.
Mean
Thinking
Average
Never, Never Be Afraid To Do What's Right, Especially If The Well-being Of A Person Or Animal Is At Stake. Society's Punishments Are Small Compared To The Wounds We Inflict On Our Soul When We Look The Other Way.
Inspirational
Courage
Integrity
Often The Oppressor Goes Along Unaware Of The Evil Involved In His Oppression So Long As The Oppressed Accepts It.
Long
Evil
Oppression
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
We Must Speak With All The Humility That Is Appropriate To Our Limited Vision, But We Must Speak.
Humility
Vision
Breaking Silence
Where Evil Men Would Seek To Perpetuate An Unjust Status Quo, Good Men Must Seek To Bring Into Being A Real Order Of Justice.
Real
Men
Order
We Aren't Going To Let Any Mace Stop Us. We Are Masters In Our Nonviolent Movement In Disarming Police Forces; They Don't Know What To Do.
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Encouragement
Police
As A Young Man With Most Of My Life Ahead Of Me, I Decided Early To Give My Life To Something Eternal And Absolute. Not To These Little Gods That Are Here Today And Gone Tomorrow. But To God Who Is The Same Yesterday, Today, And Forever.
Men
Yesterday
Giving
Love Is The Most Durable Power In The World.
Love Is
World
Segregation Is The Adultery Of An Illicit Intercourse Between Injustice And Immorality.
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Adultery
Segregation
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.
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Time
It Is A Tragic Mix-up When The United States Spends 500,000 For Every Enemy Soldier Killed, And Only 53 Annually On The Victims Of Poverty.
War
Soldier
Enemy
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?'
Inspiring
Leadership
Peace
Jesus Recognized That Love Is Greater Than Like.
Jesus
Love Is
Greater
I'm Very Glad Christ Tells Us To Love Our Neighbor And Not To Like Our Neighbor Because It's Hard To Like Someone Threatening Your Children And Throwing Fire Bombs Through Your Window, But He Asks Us To Love Them And That I Can Do
Children
Fire
Bombs
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
Many Of The Ugly Pages Of American History Have Been Obscured And Forgotten....america Owes A Debt Of Justice Which It Has Only Begun To Pay. If It Loses The Will To Finish Or Slackens In Its Determination, History Will Recall Its Crimes And The Country That Would Be Great Will Lack The Most Indispensable Element Of Greatness-justice.
Country
Determination
Greatness
It Really Boils Down To This: That All Life Is Interrelated. We Are All Caught In An Inescapable Network Of Mutuality, Tired Into A Single Garment Of Destiny. Whatever Affects One Destiny, Affects All Indirectly.
Tired
Destiny
Life Is
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
The Most Dangerous Type Of Atheism Is Not Theoretical Atheism, But Practical Atheism -that's The Most Dangerous Type. And The World, Even The Church, Is Filled Up With People Who Pay Lip Service To God And Not Life Service. And There Is Always A Danger That We Will Make It Appear Externally That We Believe In God When Internally We Don't. We Say With Our Mouths That We Believe In Him, But We Live With Our Lives Like He Never Existed. That Is The Ever-present Danger Confronting Religion. That's A Dangerous Type Of Atheism.
Inspiring
Believe
Filled Up
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.
Life
Love Is
Men
A Piece Of Freedom Is No Longer Enough For Human Beings...unlike Bread, A Slice Of Liberty Does Not Finish Hunger. Freedom Is Like Life. It Cannot Be Had In Installments. Freedom Is Indivisible--we Have It All, Or We Are Not Free.
Liberty
Doe
Pieces
But Life At Its Best Is A Creative Synthesis Of Opposites In Fruitful Harmony.
Opposites
Creative
Synthesis
Rioting Is Not Revolutionary.
Revolutionary
Rioting
A Second Thing That An Individual Must Do In Seeking To Love His Enemy Is To Discover The Element Of Good In His Enemy, And Everytime You Begin To Hate That Person And Think Of Hating That Person, Realize That There Is Some Good There And Look At Those Good Points Which Will Over-balance The Bad Points.
Hate
Thinking
Enemy
It’s Wrong To Hate. It Always Has Been Wrong And It Always Will Be Wrong! It’s Wrong In America, It’s Wrong In Germany, It’s Wrong In Russia, It’s Wrong In China! It Was Wrong In Two Thousand B.c., And It’s Wrong In Nineteen Fifty-four A.d.! It Always Has Been Wrong, And It Always Will Be Wrong!
Hate
Russia
America
But While So Many White Americans Are Unaware Of Conditions Inside The Ghetto, There Are Very Few Ghetto Dwellers Who Are Unaware Of The Life Outside. The Television Sets Bombard Them Day By Day With The Opulence Of The Larger Society.
Ghetto
White
Television
Those Of Us Who Love Peace Must Organize As Effectively As The War Hawks. As They Spread The Propaganda Of War, We Must Spread The Propaganda Of Peace.
War
Hawks
Propaganda
We Cannot Walk Alone.
Walks
Nothing Pains Some People More Than Having To Think
Pain
Emotional
Thinking
Power Is Love Implementing The Demands Of Justice. Justice Is Love Correcting Everything That Goes Against Love.
Love
Power
Justice
True Sympathy Is The Personal Concern Which Demands The Giving Of One's Soul.
Sympathy
Giving
Soul
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
Is Your Heart Right? If Your Heart Isn't Right, Fix It Up Today.
Heart
Today
Ifs
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
I Would Be Misleading You If I Made You Feel That We Could Win A Violent Campaign. It's Impractical Even To Think About It. The Minute We Start, We Will End Up Getting Many More People Killed Unnecessarily. Now, I'm Ready To Die Myself. Many Other Committed People Are Ready To Die. If You Believe In Something Firmly, If You Believe In It Truly, If You Believe It In Your Heart, You Are Willing To Die For It, But I'm Not Going To Advocate A Method That Brings About Unnecessary Death.
Believe
Heart
Thinking
Personality Is Like A Charioteer With Two Headstrong Horses, Each Wanting To Go In Different Directions.
Horse
Two
Personality
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
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
Is Is Always Time To Do The Right Thing.
Right Thing
Hate Destroys The Very Structure Of The Personality Of The Hater.
Hate
Personality
Structure
If A Man Is Called To Be A Street Sweeper, He Should Sweep Streets Even As A Michaelangelo Painted, Or Beethoven Composed Music Or Shakespeare Wrote Poetry. He Should Sweep Streets So Well That All The Hosts Of Heaven And Earth Will Pause To Say, 'here Lived A Great Street Sweeper Who Did His Job Well.
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
On The One Hand We Are Called To Play The Good Samaritan On Life's Roadside; But That Will Be Only An Initial Act. One Day We Must Come To See That The Whole Jericho Road Must Be Transformed So That Men And Women Will Not Be Constantly Beaten And Robbed As They Make Their Journey On Life's Highway. True Compassion Is More Than Flinging A Coin To A Beggar; It Is Not Haphazard And Superficial. It Comes To See That An Edifice Which Produces Beggars Needs Restructuring. "a Time To Break Silence," At Riverside Church
Journey
Men
Compassion
A Law Is Unjust If It Is Inflicted On A Minority That, As A Result Of Being Denied The Right To Vote, Had No Part In Enacting Or Devising The Law. Who Can Say That The Legislature Of Alabama Which Set Up The State's Segregation Laws Was Democratically Elected?
Law
Alabama
Minorities
I Was Not Afraid Of The Words Of The Violent, But Of The Silence Of The Honest.
Silence
Honest
Violent
Life's Most Persistent And Urgent Question Is, 'what Are You Doing For Others?'
Inspirational
Life
Motivational
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
We Decided To Set Our Direct-action Program Around The Easter Season, Realizing That, With Exception Of Christmas, This Was The Largest Shopping Period Of The Year. Knowing That A Strong Economic Withdrawal Program Would Be The By-product Of Direct Action.
Inspirational
Easter
Strong
Returning Hate, Adding Deeper Darkness To A Night That Is Already Void Of Stars. Darkness Cannot Drive Out Darkness: Only Light Can Do That. Hate Cannot Drive Out Hate: Only Love Can Do That.
Stars
Hate
Loss
The Belief That God Will Do Everything For Man Is As Untenable As The Belief That Man Can Do Everything For Himself. It, Too, Is Based On A Lack Of Faith. We Must Learn That To Expect God To Do Everything While We Do Nothing Is Not Faith But Superstition.
Men
Superstitions
Belief
There Is No Sound More Powerful Than The Marching Feet Of A Determined People.
Powerful
Feet
People
All Men Are Caught In An Inescapable Network Of Mutuality.
Men
Caught
Everyone Has An Opportunity To Be Great Because Everyone Has An Opportunity To Serve.
Opportunity
Theatre
If A Man Hasn't Found Anything Worth Dying For, He Hasn't Anything Worth Living For.
Men
Dying
Found
The Method Of Nonviolence Seeks Not To Humiliate And Not To Defeat The Oppressor, But It Seeks To Win His Friendship And His Understanding. And Thereby And Therefore The Aftermath Of This Method Is Reconciliation.
Winning
Understanding
Aftermath
Be True To What You Said On Paper.
Paper
Said
Being True
We As Christians Have A Mandate To Be Nonconformists.
Christian
Christianity
Mandates
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
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
Black Power Is A Nihilistic Philosophy Born Out Of The Conviction That The Negro Can't Win... The View That American Society Is So Hopelessly Corrupt And Enmeshed In Evil That There Is No Possibility Of Salvation From Within.
Philosophy
Winning
Views
I Oppose The War In Vietnam Because I Love America. I Speak Out Against It Not In Anger But With Anxiety And Sorrow In My Heart, And Above All With A Passionate Desire To See Our Beloved Country Stand As A Moral Example Of The World.
Country
War
Heart
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.
Justice
Defense
Bombs
Forgiveness Does Not Mean Ignoring What Has Been Done Or Putting A False Label On An Evil Act. It Means, Rather, That The Evil Act No Longer Remains As A Barrier To The Relationship. Forgiveness Is A Catalyst Creating The Atmosphere Necessary For A Fresh Start And A New Beginning.
Forgiveness
New Beginnings
Mean
The Labor Movement Was The Principal Force That Transforme­d Misery And Despair Into Hope And Progress.
Progress
Despair
Movement
We Must Use Time Creatively.
Music
Time
Use
Truth Crushed To Earth Will Rise Again.
Earth
Crushed
Kings Speech
I Imagine You Already Know That I Am Much More Socialistic In My Economic Theory Than Capitalistic.
Imagine
Economic
Theory
Property Is Intended To Serve Life, And No Matter How Much We Surround It With Rights And Respect, It Has No Personal Being. It Is Part Of The Earth Man Walks On. It Is Not Man.
Life
Respect
Men
In A Real Sense Faith Is Total Surrender To God .
Faith
Real
Surrender
Don't Let Anybody Take Your Manhood.
Manhood
The Reason I Can't Follow The Old Eye-for-an-eye Philosophy Is That It Ends Up Leaving Everyone Blind.
Philosophy
Eye
Leaving
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
The Saving Of Our World From Pending Doom Will Come, Not Through The Complacent Adjustment Of The Conforming Majority, But Through The Creative Maladjustment Of A Nonconforming Minority.
Our World
Creative
Majority
Somebody Told A Lie One Day. They Couched It In Language. They Made Everything Black Ugly And Evil. Look In Your Dictionaries And See The Synonyms Of The Word Black. It's Always Something Degrading And Low And Sinister. Look At The Word White, It's Always Something Pure, High And Clean.
Beautiful
Lying
White
The Major Problem Of Life Is Learning How To Handle The Costly Interruptions. The Door That Slams Shut, The Plan That Got Sidetracked, The Marriage That Failed. Or That Lovely Poem That Didn't Get Written Because Someone Knocked On The Door.
Doors
Lovely
Problem
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.
Agony
Giving
Society
Courage Faces Fear And Thereby Masters It. Cowardice Represses Fear And Is Thereby Mastered By It.
Faces
Cowardice
Masters
Great People Aren't Those Who Are Happy At Times Of Convienience And Content, But Of How They Are In Times Of Catastrophy And Controversy.
Life And Love
People
Great People
Whatever Your Life's Work Is, Do It Well. A Man Should Do His Job So Well That The Living, The Dead, And The Unborn Could Do It No Better.
Life
Motivational
Positive
We Who In Engage In Nonviolent Direct Action Are Not The Creators Of Tension. We Merely Bring To The Surface The Hidden Tension That Is Already Alive.
Direct Action
Alive
Surface
Violence Often Brings About Momentary Results.
Inspirational
Violence
Results
I Cannot Forget That The Nobel Prize For Peace Was Also A Commission - A Commission To Work Harder Than I Had Ever Worked Before For "the Brotherhood Of Man".
Hard Work
Men
Brotherhood Of Man
One Day The Absurdity Of The Almost Universal Human Belief In The Slavery Of Other Animals Will Be Palpable. We Shall Then Have Discovered Our Souls And Become Worthier Of Sharing This Planet With Them.
Animal
Soul
One Day
The Idea Of A Superior Or Inferior Race Is A Myth That Has Been Completely Refuted By Anthropological Evidence.
Life
Race
Ideas
It Is Better To Be The Recipient Of Violence Than The Inflicter Of It, Since The Latter Only Multiplies The Existence Of Violence And Bitterness In The Universe, While The Former May Develop A Sense Of Shame In The Opponent, And Thereby Bring About A Transformation And Change Of Heart.
Heart
May
Opponents
Forgiveness Is Not An Occasional Act, It Is A Constant Attitude.
Inspirational
Motivational
Inspiring
We Can Either Walk The Highroad Of Brotherhood Or The Low Road Of Man's Inhumanity To Man.
Men
Inhumanity To Man
Brotherhood
Free At Last, Free At Last, Thank God Almighty We Are Free At Last.
Inspirational
Life
God
They Were Too God-intoxicated To Be "astronomically Intimidated." They Brought An End To Such Ancient Evils As Infanticide And Gladiatorial Contest.
Inspirational
Evil
Ancient
Civilization And Violence Are Antithetical Concepts.
Peace
Civilization
Violence
One Day We Shall Win Freedom, But Not Only For Ourselves. We Shall So Appeal To Your Heart And Conscience That We Shall Win You In The Process, And Our Victory Will Be A Double Victory.
Peace
Heart
Winning
For Years Now I Have Heard The Word "wait." It Rings In The Ear Of Every Negro With A Piercing Familiarity. This "wait" Has Almost Always Meant "never."
Inspirational
Years
Direct Action
I Never Cease To Wonder At The Amazing Presumption Of Much Of White Society, Assuming That They Have The Right To Bargain With The Negro For His Freedom.
White
Assuming
Wonder
The End Of Life Is Not To Be Happy, Nor To Achieve Pleasure And Avoid Pain, But To Do The Will Of God, Come What May.
Pain
May
Life Is
The Art Of Acceptance Is The Art Of Making Someone Who Has Just Done You A Small Favor Wish That He Might Have Done You A Greater One.
Gratitude
Art
Acceptance
A Final Victory Is An Accumulation Of Many Short-term Encounters. To Lightly Dismiss A Success Because It Does Not Usher In A Complete Order Of Justice Is To Fail To Comprehend The Process Of Achieving Full Victory.
Order
Justice
Victory
Make A Career Of Humanity. Commit Yourself To The Struggle For Equal Rights.
Struggle
Rights
Careers
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
[nonviolence] Seeks To Secure Moral Ends Through Moral Means.
Mean
Morality
Ends
As Long As The Mind Is Enslaved, The Body Can Never Be Free.
Long
Mind
Body
The Church Must Be Reminded That It Is Not The Master, Or The Servant Of The State, But Rather The Conscience Of The State.
Christian
Church
States
Every Crisis Has Both Its Dangers And Its Opportunities. Each Can Spell Either Salvation Or Doom.
Opportunity
Danger
Salvation
Education Without Direction Is A One-sided Social Value. Direct Action Without Education Is A Meaningless Expression Of Pure Energy.
Direct Action
Social Values
Expression
I Feel That The Time Is Always Right To Do What Is Right. Where Progress For The Negro In America Is Concerned, There Is A Tragic Misconception Of Time Among Whites. They Seem To Cherish A Strange, Irrational Notion That Something In The Very Flow Of Time Will Cure All Ills.
America
Progress
Flow
The Decision We Must Make Now Is Whether We Will Give Our Allegiance To Outmoded And Unjust Customs Or To The Ethical Demands Of The Universe. As Christians We Owe Our Allegiance To God And His Will, Rather Than To Man And His Folkways
Inspiring
Christian
Men
I Know That God Is Not Going To Willfully Hurt Us. Why There Is Suffering Is The Business Of The Lord, But He Never Seems To Give Us More Than We Can Bear.
Hurt
Giving
Suffering
God Is Not Merely Interestd In The Freedom Of Brown Men, Yellow Men, Red Men And Black Men.he Is Interested In The Freedom Of The Whole Human Race.
Freedom
Men
Race
A Nation That Continues Year After Year To Spend More Money On Military Defense Than On Programs Of Social Uplift Is Approaching Spiritual Doom.
Change
Uplifting
Spiritual
The Non-violent Resistor Not Only Avoids External, Physical Violence, But He Avoids Internal Violence Of Spirit. He Not Only Refuses To Shoot His Opponent, But He Refuses To Hate Him. And He Stands With Understanding, Goodwill At All Times.
Hate
Understanding
Opponents
Alienation Is A Form Of Living Death. It Is The Acid Of Despair That Dissolves Society.
Despair
Acid
Form
Love Is The Supreme Unifying Principle Of Life.
Life
Love Is
Principles
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
We Must Accept Finite Disappointment, But Never Lose Infinite Hope.
Inspirational
Motivational
Positive
Truth Is Found Neither In Marxism Nor In Traditional Capitalism. Each Represents A Partial Truth. Historically Capitalism Failed To See The Truth In Collective Enterprise, And Marxism Failed To See The Truth In Individual Enterprise. Nineteenth Century Capitalism Failed To See That Life Is Social And Marxism Failed And Still Fails To See That Life Is Individual And Personal. The Kingdom Of God Is Neither The Thesis Of Individual Enterprise Nor The Antithesis Of Collective Enterprise, But A Synthesis Which Reconciles The Truths Of Both.
Wisdom
Synthesis
Kingdoms
The Profit Motive, When It Is The Sole Basis Of An Economic System, Encourages A Cutthroat Competition And Selfish Ambition That Inspires Men To Be More Concerned About Making A Living Than Making A Life.
Selfish
Ambition
Men
Even When The Polls Are Open To All, Negroes Have Shown Themselves Too Slow To Exercise Their Voting Privileges. There Must Be A Concerted Effort On The Part Of Negro Leaders To Arouse Their People From Their Apathetic Indifference.... In The Past, Apathy Was A Moral Failure. Today, It Is A Form Of Moral And Political Suicide.
Suicide
Exercise
Past
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
The Arc Of The Moral Universe Is Long But It Bends Toward Justice.
Long
Justice
Arcs
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
It Is Not Enough For Me To Stand Before You Tonight And Condemn Riots. It Would Be Morally Irresponsible For Me To Do That Without, At The Same Time, Condemning The Contingent, Intolerable Conditions That Exist In Our Society. These Conditions Are The Things That Cause Individuals To Feel That They Have No Other Alternative Than To Engage In Violent Rebellions To Get Attention. And I Must Say Tonight That A Riot Is The Language Of The Unheard.
Alternatives
Attention
Tonight
We Come Humbly To Say To The Men In The Forefront Of Our Government That The Civil Rights Issue Is Not An Ephemeral, Evanescent Domestic Issue That Can Be Kicked About By Reactionary Guardians Of The Status Quo; It Is Rather An Eternal Moral Issue Which May Well Determine The Destiny Of Our Nation In The Ideological Struggle With Communism. The Hour Is Late. The Clock Of Destiny Is Ticking Out. We Must Act Now, Before It Is Too Late.
Struggle
Destiny
Men
Many People In Harlem Never Go Out Of Harlem. I Mean They'd Never Even Been Downtown. And You Can See How This Bitterness Can Accumulate. Here You See People Crowded And Hovered Up In Ghettos And Slums With No Hope.they See No Way Out.
Mean
Ghetto
People
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.


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