Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes About War

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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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Faith, Peace

  "50 years after receiving Nobel Prize, do Martin Luther King's peace prophecies still resonate?", www.foxnews.com. October 12, 2014.

• Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Freedom, Hate

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

• The bombs in Vietnam explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Home

  Thomas F. Jackson, Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2007). “From Civil Rights to Human Rights: Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Struggle for Economic Justice”, p.319, University of Pennsylvania Press

• Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Peace, War

• If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle, unborn generations will be the recipients of a long and desolate night of bitterness, and your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Inspirational, Inspiring, Peace

• We have guided missiles and misguided men.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Science

  Strength to Love ch. 7 (1963)

• Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Mean

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King, Jr., for Students”, p.67, Beacon Press

• I am convinced that love is the most durable power in the world. It is not an expression of impractical idealism, but of practical realism. Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, love is an absolute necessity for the survival of our civilization. To return hate for hate does nothing but intensify the existence of evil in the universe. Someone must have sense enough and religion enough to cut off the chain of hate and evil, and this can only be done through love.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Hate, War

• 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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Hate, War

  Martin Luther King (Jr.) (1968). “I Have a Dream: The Quotations of Martin Luther King, Jr”

• War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Funny, War, Tomorrow

• 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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Spiritual, War, America

  "Why I Am Opposed to the War in Vietnam". Speech at Ebenezer Baptist Church in Atlanta, Georgia, www.informationclearinghouse.info. April 30, 1967.

• When a nation becomes obsessed with the guns of war, it loses its social perspective.... There is something about a war like this that makes people insensitive. It dulls the conscience. It strengthens the forces of reaction, and it brings into being bitterness and hatred and violence.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Gun, People

• We must see that peace represents a sweeter music, a cosmic melody, that is far superior to the discords of war.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Cosmic

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.133, Beacon Press

• It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Peace, War

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “A Time to Break Silence: The Essential Works of Martin Luther King, Jr., for Students”, p.68, Beacon Press

• The problem of racism, the problem of economic exploitation, and the problem of war are all tied together. These are the triple evils that are interrelated.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Racism, Evil

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2015). “The Radical King”, p.103, Beacon Press

• World peace through nonviolent means is neither absurd nor unattainable. All other methods have failed. Thus we must begin anew. Nonviolence is a good starting point. Those of us who believe in this method can be voices of reason, sanity, and understanding amid the voices of violence, hatred, and emotion. We can very well set a mood of peace out of which a system of peace can be built.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Believe

• Peace is not merely the absence of war but the presence of justice, of law, of order —in short, of government.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Government, Order

• 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.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Soldier, Enemy

• We will not build a peaceful world by following a negative path. It is not enough to say we will not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it. We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war, but on the positive affirmation of peace

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Sacrifice

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.109, Beacon Press

• A time comes when silence is betrayal. Even when pressed by the demands of inner truth, men do not easily assume the task of opposing their government's policy, especially in time of war. Nor does the human spirit move without great difficulty against all the apathy of conformist thought, within one's own bosom and in the surrounding world.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Betrayal, War, Moving

  Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

• Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation is at war... Nothing can be more destructive of our fundamental democratic traditions than the vicious effort to silence dissenters.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, Government, Effort

• In struggling for human dignity the oppressed people of the world must not allow themselves to become bitter or indulge in hate campaigns. To retaliate with hate and bitterness would do nothing but intensify the hate in the world. Along the way of life, someone must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate. This can be done only by projecting the ethics of love to the center of our lives.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, Hate, War

• The time has come for an all-out war against poverty. The rich nations must use their vast resources of wealth to develop the underdeveloped, school the unschooled, and feed the unfed. Ultimately a great nation is a compassionate nation. No individual or nation can be great if it does not have a concern for "the least of these".

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  War, School, Doe

  Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “"In a Single Garment of Destiny": A Global Vision of Justice”, p.84, Beacon Press

• There are two types of laws: there are just laws and there are unjust laws... What is the difference between the two?...An unjust law is a man-made code that is out of harmony with the moral law.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Peace, War, Men

• Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

  Martin Luther King, Jr.

  Love, Inspirational, Peace

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