--- title: "8 Destructive Quotes By Martin Luther King, Jr" description: "8 Destructive quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. Plus more from Martin Luther King, Jr and more Destructive sayings from other authors." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/martin-luther-king-jr-127_blind_and-violence-is-impractical-because-the_118723.png" --- > [And violence is impractical, because the old eye for an eye philosophy ends up leaving everybody blind .. It is immoral because…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/and-violence-is-impractical-because-the-old-eye-for-an-eye-philosophy/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f4b/martin-luther-king-jr-127_blind_and-violence-is-impractical-because-the_118723.png) > [In the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and, ultimately, destructive means cannot…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/in-the-final-analysis-means-and-ends-must-cohere-because-the-end-is/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/051/martin-luther-king-jr-127_analysis_in-the-final-analysis-means-and-ends-mus_140484.jpg) > [A time comes when silence is betrayal. That time has come for us in relation to Vietnam. A nation that continues year…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/a-time-comes-when-silence-is-betrayal-that-time-has-come-for-us-in/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f0a/martin-luther-king-jr-127_adventure_a-time-comes-when-silence-is-betrayal-th_1811602.jpg) > [I knew that America would never invest the necessary funds of energies in rehabilitation of its poor as long as adventures like…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-knew-that-america-would-never-invest-the-necessary-funds-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/14e/martin-luther-king-jr-127_adventure_i-knew-that-america-would-never-invest-t_1872336.png) > [There's something about love that builds up and is creative. There is something about hate that tears down and is destructive. So…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/there-s-something-about-love-that-builds-up-and-is-creative-there-is/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/e81/martin-luther-king-jr-127_creative_there-s-something-about-love-that-builds_2113515.png) > [Curtailment of free speech is rationalized on grounds that a more compelling American tradition forbids criticism of the government when the nation…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/curtailment-of-free-speech-is-rationalized-on-grounds-that-a-more/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fbd/martin-luther-king-jr-127_american-tradition_curtailment-of-free-speech-is-rationaliz_2228678.jpg) > [There may have been a time when war served as a negative good by preventing the spread and growth of an evil…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/there-may-have-been-a-time-when-war-served-as-a-negative-good-by/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/715/martin-luther-king-jr-127_destructive_there-may-have-been-a-time-when-war-serv_2715362.png) > [To dislocate the functioning of a city without destroying it can be more effective than a riot because it can be longer-lasting,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/to-dislocate-the-functioning-of-a-city-without-destroying-it-can-be/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) [Image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/f6c/martin-luther-king-jr-127_activism_to-dislocate-the-functioning-of-a-city-w_3234056.png) ## Other authors on Destructive ## More by Martin Luther King, Jr > [The strong man holds in a living blend strongly marked opposites.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-strong-man-holds-in-a-living-blend-strongly-marked-opposites/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race. ... We are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/our-nation-was-born-in-genocide-when-it-embraced-the-doctrine-that/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/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…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somewhere-somebody-must-have-some-sense-men-must-see-that-force/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Every genuine expression of love grows out of a consistent and total surrender to God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/every-genuine-expression-of-love-grows-out-of-a-consistent-and-total/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [We must remember that intelligence is not enough. Intelligence plus character--that is the goal of true education. The complete education gives one not only…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-remember-that-intelligence-is-not-enough-intelligence-plus/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I’ve been to the Mountaintop](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-ve-been-to-the-mountaintop/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The supreme task is to organize and unite people so that their anger becomes a transforming force.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-supreme-task-is-to-organize-and-unite-people-so-that-their-anger/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The great issue of life is to harness the drum major instinct.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-great-issue-of-life-is-to-harness-the-drum-major-instinct/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Somebody must have sense enough and morality enough to cut off the chain of hate and the chain of evil in the universe. And…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/somebody-must-have-sense-enough-and-morality-enough-to-cut-off-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Darkness is only driven out with light, not more darkness.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/darkness-is-only-driven-out-with-light-not-more-darkness/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [What seems so necessary today may not even be desirable tomorrow.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/what-seems-so-necessary-today-may-not-even-be-desirable-tomorrow/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The Negro cannot win the respect of his oppressor by acquiescing; he merely increases the oppressor's arrogance and contempt.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-negro-cannot-win-the-respect-of-his-oppressor-by-acquiescing-he/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The majority of the Negroes who took part in the year-long boycott of Montgomery's buses were poor and untutored; but they understood the essence…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-majority-of-the-negroes-who-took-part-in-the-year-long-boycott-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Whenever you are engaged in work that serves humanity and is for the building of humanity, it has dignity and it has worth,](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/whenever-you-are-engaged-in-work-that-serves-humanity-and-is-for-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I have a dream that one day even the state of Mississippi, a desert state, sweltering with the heat of injustice and oppression, will…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-have-a-dream-that-one-day-even-the-state-of-mississippi-a-desert/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "ItemList", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/destructive/martin-luther-king-jr/#itemlist", "name": "8 Destructive Quotes By Martin Luther King, Jr", "numberOfItems": 8, "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "item": { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "And violence is impractical, because the old eye for an eye philosophy ends up leaving everybody blind .. 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