Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes About Love
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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.
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I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.
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Power is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice is love correcting everything that goes against love.
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One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.
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Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.
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Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.
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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.
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Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.
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Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.
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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.
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He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love.
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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.
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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.
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Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.
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We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you....Bomb our homes and threaten our children, and, as difficult as it is, we will still love you.
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Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.
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I refuse to accept the view that mankind is so tragically bound to the starless midnight of racism and war that the bright daybreak of peace and brotherhood can never become a reality... I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word.
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My parents would always tell me that I should not hate the white man, but that it was my duty as a Christian to love him.
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I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.
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There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
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My study of Gandhi convinced me that true pacifism is not nonresistance to evil, but nonviolent resistance to evil. Between the two positions, there is a world of difference. Gandhi resisted evil with as much vigor and power as the violent resister, but True pacifism is not unrealistic submission to evil power. It is rather a courageous confrontation of evil by the power of love. . . .
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We have before us the glorious opportunity to inject a new dimension of love into the veins of our civilization.
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The human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea driven about by winds blowing from all four corners of heaven.
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Power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.
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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.
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It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.
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At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.
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Martin Luther King, Jr.
- Born: January 15, 1929
- Died: April 4, 1968
- Occupation: Civil rights activist