The question is no longer between violence and non-violence it is between non-violence and non-existence.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the critical choice between non-violence and the absence of existence, suggesting that non-violence is essential for survival.
In this quote, Martin Luther King Jr. starkly presents a moral dilemma faced by society: the choice is not simply between violence and non-violence, but rather between choosing non-violence or facing the absolute destruction of humanity. It underscores the idea that embracing non-violence is crucial not just for ethical reasons, but as a means of ensuring the survival and coexistence of people, highlighting the importance of peaceful methods in the struggle against oppression.
In practice
This quote could be used in a speech about peace during a protest against violence.
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.
There is a thin line between peace of the brave and peace of the hostage... between compromise - even calculated risk - and irresponsibility and capitulation.
Those in powerless positions aren't about to complain about bullying bosses, abusive supervisors or corrupt co-workers. There is no safe way to do so and no process that promises redress.
I don't favor violence. If we could bring about recognition and respect of our people by peaceful means, well and good. Everybody would like to reach his objectives peacefully. But I'm also a realist. The only people in this country who are asked to be nonviolent are black people.
I believe all Americans who believe in freedom, tolerance and human rights have a responsibility to oppose bigotry and prejudice based on sexual orientation.
We face up to awful things because we can't go around them, or forget them. The sooner you get it over with, the sooner you say 'Yes, it happened, and there's nothing I can do about it,' the sooner you can get on with your own life. You've got children to bring up. So you've got to get over it. What we have to get over, somehow we do. Even the worst things.
Catholics are born for combat.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.