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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes about Hate

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Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as

Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man's sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Beautiful, Hate, Cancer
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Love, Beautiful, Hate
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.205, Beacon Press

Men often hate each other because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don't know each other; they don't know each other because they can not communicate; they can not communicate because they are separated.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspiring, Fear, Hate
"Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story". Book by Martin Luther King Jr., 1957.

Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kings, Stars, Hate
"Where do we go from here: Chaos or community?". Book by Martin Luther King, 1967.

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

We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Power Of Love, Force
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, p.97, Beacon Press

He (Jesus) knew that the old eye-for-eye philosophy would leave everyone blind. He did not seek to overcome evil with evil. He overcame evil with good. Although crucified by hate, he responded with aggressive love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Jesus, Philosophy, Hate
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

Hate begets hate; violence begets violence; toughness begets a greater toughness. We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Violence, Power Of Love
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2010). “Stride Toward Freedom: The Montgomery Story”, p.97, Beacon Press

I feel that non-violence is really the only way that we can follow because violence is just so self-defeating. A riot ends up creating many more problems for the negro community than it solved. We can through violence burn down a building, but you can't establish justice. You can murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder through violence. You can murder a hater, but you can't murder hate. And what we're trying to get rid of is hate, injustice, and all of these other things that continue the long night of man's inhumanity to man.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Night, Men

Love is creative and redemptive. Love builds up and unites; hate tears down and destroys. The aftermath of the ‘fight with fire’ method...is bitterness and chaos, the aftermath of the love method is reconciliation and creation of the beloved community...Yes , love-which means understanding, creative, redemptive goodwill, even for one’s enemies-is the solution

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Mean, Fighting

Let no man pull you so low as to hate him.

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

Don't ever let anyone pull you so low as to hate them. We must use the weapon of love. We must have the compassion and understanding for those who hate us. We must realize so many people are taught to hate us that they are not totally responsible for their hate. But we stand in life at midnight; we are always on the threshold of a new dawn.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Compassion, People

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”

Somewhere somebody must have some sense. Men must see that force begets force, hate begets hate, toughness begets toughness. And it is all a descending spiral, ultimately ending in destruction for all and everybody. Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And you do that by love.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Cutting, Men
"Loving Your Enemies". Speech delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, November 17, 1957.

Another reason why we must love our enemies is that hate scars the soul and distorts the personality.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Personality, Soul
Martin Luther King (Jr.) (2012). “A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings”, p.49, Beacon Press

Hate is too heavy a burden to bear.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Bears, Burden
Source: www.salon.com

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”

A third reason why we should love our enemies is that love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend. We never get rid of an enemy by meeting hate with hate; we get rid of an enemy by getting rid of enmity. By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up. Love transforms with redemptive power.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Love Is, Enemy
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

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

A second thing that an individual must do in seeking to love his enemy is to discover the element of good in his enemy, and everytime you begin to hate that person and think of hating that person, realize that there is some good there and look at those good points which will over-balance the bad points.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Thinking, Enemy
"Loving Your Enemies". Speech delivered at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, November 17, 1957.

Will we be extremists for hate, or will we be extremists for love? Will we be extremists for the preservation of injustice, or will we be extremists for the cause of justice?

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Hate, Justice
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. (2013). “The Essential Martin Luther King, Jr.: "I Have a Dream" and Other Great Writings”, p.99, Beacon Press

By its very nature, hate destroys and tears down; by its very nature, love creates and builds up.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Love And Hate, Tears
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

How hard it is for people to live without someone to look down upon-really to look down upon. It is not just that they feel cheated out of someone to hate. It is that they are compelled to look more closely into themselves and what they don't like about themselves.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, People, Looks

Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Kings, Hate, Light
"A Gift of Love: Sermons from Strength to Love and Other Preachings".

Love has within it a redemptive power. And there is a power there that eventually transforms individuals. Just keep being friendly to that person. Just keep loving them, and they can't stand it too long. Oh, they react in many ways in the beginning. They react with guilt feelings, and sometimes they'll hate you a little more at that transition period, but just keep loving them. And by the power of your love they will break down under the load. That's love, you see. It is redemptive.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, Love You, Long
"Loving Your Enemies". Sermon by Martin Luther King, Jr. at Dexter Avenue Baptist Church, Montgomery, Alabama, November 17, 1957.

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