Through violence you may murder a hater, but you cannot murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.
Martin Luther King Jr.
Only Light Can Do That
Topic: Overcoming Adversity
“I say to you today that I still stand by nonviolence… And the other thing is that I am concerned about a better world. 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. For through violence you may murder a murderer but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate. Darkness cannot put out darkness. Only light can do that.“
Martin Luther King Jr. (1929-1968)
Christianity
Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos or Community?
Wilson, Andrew, editor. World Scripture II. Universal Peace Federation, 2011, p. 1088 [Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community? Address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (16 August 1967)].
Martin Luther King Jr.
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Additional Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes
“I have also decided to stick to 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…. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr. [Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community?].
“Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr. [Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community?].
“I must confess, my friends, the road ahead will not always be smooth. There will be still rocky places of frustration and meandering points of bewilderment. There will be inevitable setbacks here and there. There will be those moments when the buoyancy of hope will be transformed into the fatigue of despair. Our dreams will sometimes be shattered and our ethereal hopes blasted. We may again with tear-drenched eyes have to stand before the bier of some courageous civil rights worker whose life will be snuffed out by the dastardly acts of bloodthirsty mobs. Difficult and painful as it is, we must walk on in the days ahead with an audacious faith in the future. … When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe, working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows. Let us realize the arc of the moral universe is long but it bends toward justice.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr. [Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos Or Community?].