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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.

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Martin Luther King, Jr.
Age: 39 †
Born: 1929
Born: January 15
Died: 1968
Died: April 4
Civil Rights Advocate
Human Rights Activist
Humanitarian
Leader
Minister
Pacifist
Pastor
Peace Activist
Politician
Preacher
Theologian
Atlanta
Georgia
MLK
Martin Luther King
Dr. King
Michael King
Michael King Jr.
M.L. King
Martin Luther
Jr. King
Martin Luther King
Jr.
Inspirational
Using
Bitterness
Night
Inspiring
Chief
Long
Generations
Meaningless
Recipients
Violence
Chiefs
Succumb
Struggle
Legacy
Desolate
Future
Temptation
Unborn
Peace
Chaos
Antiwar
War
Endless
Reign

More quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr.

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Never, never be afraid to do what's right.
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It all boils down to this: that all life is interrelated.
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Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.
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I have a dream that one day this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed We hold these truths to be self-evident: that all men are created equal
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One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
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The beauty of genuine brotherhood and peace is more precious than diamonds or silver or gold.
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We have flown the air like birds and swum the sea like fishes, but have yet to learn the simple act of walking the earth like brothers.
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White man and black man, jew and gentile, protestant and catholic, will be able to hold hands and sing in the words of the ancient negro spiritual, Free at last, free at last. Thank God almighty! We are free at last!
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Friends are forever Boys are whatever.
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It's very easy for one talking about violence and hatred for the white man to appeal to [Negro from ghetto]. I have never thought of this, but I think this is quite true, that if, even if you talk to them about nonviolence from a tactical point of view, they can't quite see it because they don't even know they're outnumbered.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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We know nothing about Africa, although our roots are there in terms of our forbearers. But I mean as far as the average Negro today, he knows nothing about Africa. And I think he's got to face the fact that he is an American, his culture is basically American, and one becomes adjusted to this when he realizes what, what he is.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Agape is disinterested love. . . . Agape does not begin by discriminating between worthy and unworthy people, or any qualities people possess. It begins by loving others for their sakes. . . . Therefore, agape makes no distinction between friend and enemy it is directed toward both.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Those who love peace must learn to organize as effectively as those who love war.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I've always tried to be what I call militantly nonviolent. I don't believe that anyone could seriously accuse me of not being totally committed to the breakdown of segregation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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I must face the fact, as all others in positions of leadership must do, that America today is an extremely sick nation, and that something could well happen to me at any time. I feel, though, that my cause is so right, so moral, that if I should lose my life, in some way it would aid the cause.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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The purpose of direct action is to create a situation so crisis-packed that it will inevitably open the door to negotiation.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as a Michaelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, 'Here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.
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The contemporary church is so often a weak, ineffectual voice with an uncertain sound. It is so often the arch supporter of the status quo.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Commit yourself to the noble struggle for human rights. You will make a greater person of yourself, a greater nation of your country and a finer world to live in.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Unity has never meant uniformity.
Martin Luther King, Jr.