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Martin Luther King, Jr. Quotes about War

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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

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

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

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Inspirational, Peace, War

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
War, Society, Vietnam

In any civilized society, it is every citizen's responsibility to obey just laws. But at the same time, it is every citizen's responsibility to disobey unjust laws.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
War, Responsibility, Marijuana

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”

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

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

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

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 concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, War, Negative

If an American is concerned only about his nation, he will not be concerned about the peoples of Asia, Africa, or South America. Is this not why nations engage in the madness of war without the slightest sense of penitence? Is this not why the murder of a citizen of your own nation is a crime, but the murder of citizens of another nation in war is an act of heroic virtue?

Martin Luther King, Jr.
War, America, Citizens
Martin Luther King Jr. (1963). “Strength to Love”

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.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Hate, War, Home
Beyond Vietnam -- A Time to Break Silence, Delivered 4 April 1967, Riverside Church, New York City

Nonviolence is absolute commitment to the way of love. Love is not emotional bash; it is not empty sentimentalism. It is the active outpouring of one's whole being into the being of another.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, War, Commitment

We have guided missiles and misguided men.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Peace, War, Science
Strength to Love ch. 7 (1963)

Communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social, and the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism but in a higher synthesis. It is found in a higher synthesis that combines the truths of both.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Life, War, Communication
"Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community?". Book by Martin Luther King, Jr., 1967.

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.

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

War is a poor chisel to carve out tomorrow.

Martin Luther King, Jr.
Funny, War, Tomorrow

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