The intellectual and moral satisfaction that I failed to gain from the utilitarianism of Bentham and Mill, the revolutionary methods of Marx and Lenin, the social contract theory of Hobbes, the "back to nature" optimism of Rousseau, and the superman philosophy of Nietzsche, I found in the nonviolent resistance philosophy of Gandhi. I came to feel that this was the only morally and practically sound method open to oppressed people in their struggle for freedom.
Interpretation
King found moral and practical guidance in Gandhi's nonviolent resistance contrary to other political philosophies.
In this quote, Martin Luther King, Jr. reflects on his search for a philosophy that would provide both intellectual and moral satisfaction in the context of social justice. He contrasts the ideas of various influential thinkers, such as Bentham, Marx, Hobbes, Rousseau, and Nietzsche, with Gandhi’s nonviolent resistance, concluding that this approach is the most ethical and viable way for oppressed individuals to attain freedom.
In practice
During a discussion on social justice movements, one might quote King to emphasize the importance of nonviolent methods.
This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.
Music is the best consolation for a despaired man
We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.
We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
Israel... is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world
One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
Human freedom involves our capacity to pause, to choose the one response toward which we wish to throw our weight.
The objection to Puritans is not that they try to make us think as they do, but that they try to make us do as they think.
Within my body are all the sacred places of the world, and the most profound pilgrimage I can ever make is within my own body.
The mystic cannot wholly do without symbol and image, inadequate to his vision though they must always be: for his experience must be expressed if it is to be communicated, and its actuality is inexpressible except in some hint or parallel which will stimulate the dormant intuition of the reader.
There is an interesting scientific dispute about realism and optimism. Some find that very optimistic people have benign illusions about themselves. These people may think they have more control, or more skill, than they actually do. Others have found that optimistic people have a good handle on reality. The jury is still out.
People of different religions and cultures live side by side in almost every part of the world, and most of us have overlapping identities which unite us with very different groups. We can love what we are, without hating what – and who – we are not. We can thrive in our own tradition, even as we learn from others, and come to respect their teachings.
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