--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: No one can pretend that because a people…" description: "\"“No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed, every individual member is virtuous and worthy.”\" — Martin Luther King Jr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg" --- # No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed… ![“No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed, every individual member is virtuous and worthy.” quote by Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg) > ““No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed, every individual member is virtuous and worthy.”” [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Oppression of a group does not guarantee virtue in each member; moral character is individual. **In simple terms:** Group oppression doesn't ensure personal virtue. Key Takeaway Judge individuals, not groups. Themes justice morality individuality Mood reflective serious Type ethical philosophical When to use this quote - social movements - legal judgments - community leadership - personal ethics Key Concepts ethical responsibility human dignity Questions to Reflect On - How can we assess personal virtue amid systemic oppression? - What responsibilities do individuals have to resist collective stereotypes? A Different Perspective Assumes all oppressed groups are homogenous. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Extremism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremism/) [Human nature](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/human-nature/) ## Related quotes > [If I am virtuous and worthy, for whom should I not maintain a proper concern?](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/confucius/if-i-am-virtuous-and-worthy-for-whom-should-i-not-maintain-a-proper/) [Confucius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/confucius/) > [When people are oppressed, and human rights are denied - particularly along sectarian lines or ethnic lines - when dissent is silenced, it feeds…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/barack-obama/when-people-are-oppressed-and-human-rights-are-denied-particularly/) [Barack Obama](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/barack-obama/) > [It is above all in the present democratic age that the true friends of liberty and human grandeur must remain constantly vigilant and ready…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/alexis-de-tocqueville/it-is-above-all-in-the-present-democratic-age-that-the-true-friends/) [Alexis de Tocqueville](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/alexis-de-tocqueville/) > [And the truth must finally lie in that which every oppressed individual feels within himself but hasn't the courage to express](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wilhelm-reich/and-the-truth-must-finally-lie-in-that-which-every-oppressed/) [Wilhelm Reich](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wilhelm-reich/) > [The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/the-question-is-not-whether-we-will-be-extremists-but-what-kind-of/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“The question is not if we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. The nation and the world are in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/the-question-is-not-if-we-will-be-extremists-but-what-kind-of/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“So the question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be. Will we be extremists for hate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/so-the-question-is-not-whether-we-will-be-extremists-but-what-kind-of/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [Some of the best art occurs when people are oppressed. That's just what we do as a species when something shakes us up.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/pharrell-williams/some-of-the-best-art-occurs-when-people-are-oppressed-that-s-just/) [Pharrell Williams](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/pharrell-williams/) > [Listen, here's reality. 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You can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/trevor-noah/i-guess-that-is-the-strange-part-of-the-human-brain-that-people-have/) [Trevor Noah](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/trevor-noah/) ## More by Martin Luther King Jr > [We have learned to fly the air like birds and swim the sea like fish, but we have not learned the simple art of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/we-have-learned-to-fly-the-air-like-birds-and-swim-the-sea-like-fish/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [I had a dreamthat you would just shut the fuck up](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/i-had-a-dreamthat-you-would-just-shut-the-fuck-up/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [Yes, if you want to say that I was a drum major, say that I was a drum major for justice; say that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/yes-if-you-want-to-say-that-i-was-a-drum-major-say-that-i-was-a-drum/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline. We must not allow our creative protest to degenerate into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/we-must-forever-conduct-our-struggle-on-the-high-plane-of-dignity-and/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“It may be true that the law cannot make a man love me, but it can stop him from lynching me, and I think…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/it-may-be-true-that-the-law-cannot-make-a-man-love-me-but-it-can-stop/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“Privileged groups seldom give up their privileges voluntarily.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/privileged-groups-seldom-give-up-their-privileges-voluntarily/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [God has set the type of marriage everywhere throughout the creation. Every creature seeks its perfection in another. 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We must concentrate…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/it-is-not-enough-to-say-we-must-not-wage-war-it-is-necessary-to-love/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“When, for decades, you have been able to make a man compromise his manhood by threatening him with a cruel and unjust punishment, and…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/when-for-decades-you-have-been-able-to-make-a-man-compromise-his/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/the-question-is-not-whether-we-will-be-extremists-but-what-kind-of/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“Deep in our history of struggle for freedom, Canada was the North star”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/deep-in-our-history-of-struggle-for-freedom-canada-was-the-north-star/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“And he's allowed me to go to the mountain. And I've looked over, and I've seen the promised land! I may not get there…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/and-he-s-allowed-me-to-go-to-the-mountain-and-i-ve-looked-over-and-i/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/we-know-through-painful-experience-that-freedom-is-never-voluntarily/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [“Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/returning-hate-for-hate-multiplies-hate-adding-deeper-darkness-to-a/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) [Explore all 219 Martin Luther King Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) ## More Extremism quotes > [“Kill extremists and more extremists will appear. Kill Extremist Ideology and extremism will disappear.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mouloud-benzadi/kill-extremists-and-more-extremists-will-appear-kill-extremist/) [Mouloud Benzadi](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mouloud-benzadi/) > [“It is very difficult to convince a person to come out of his conservative shell, unless he feels discomfort there.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/tarif-naaz/it-is-very-difficult-to-convince-a-person-to-come-out-of-his/) [Tarif Naaz](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/tarif-naaz/) > [Not only do we still engage in wars far away from our homes, which settle nothing and fuel extremism in the aftermath, we sell…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/declan-mckenna/not-only-do-we-still-engage-in-wars-far-away-from-our-homes-which/) [Declan McKenna](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/declan-mckenna/) > [“Bombs kill terrorists, Books kill terrorism. Missiles kill extremists, Mindfulness kills extremism. Guns kill supremacists, Goodness kills supremacy. Law restrains cruel people, Love reforms…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/abhijit-naskar/bombs-kill-terrorists-books-kill-terrorism-missiles-kill-extremists/) [Abhijit Naskar](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/abhijit-naskar/) > [I think the only way one can really determine whether extremism in the defense of liberty is justified, is not to approach it as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/malcolm-x/i-think-the-only-way-one-can-really-determine-whether-extremism-in/) [Malcolm X](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/malcolm-x/) > [Freedom is never granted. It is earned by each generation... in the face of tyranny, cruelty, oppression, extremism, sometimes there is only one choice.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/hillary-clinton/freedom-is-never-granted-it-is-earned-by-each-generation-in-the-face/) [Hillary Clinton](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/hillary-clinton/) > [People are just afraid of things too much … Sure, evil exists, extremism exists. Somebody could commit a hate crime and hurt me. But…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/frank-ocean/people-are-just-afraid-of-things-too-much-sure-evil-exists-extremism/) [Frank Ocean](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/frank-ocean/) > [“Extremism' certainly sounds bad, and governments often try to make it sound worse by using the word 'terrorism' in the same sentence. But the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/timothy-snyder/extremism-certainly-sounds-bad-and-governments-often-try-to-make-it/) [Timothy Snyder](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/timothy-snyder/) > [The question is not whether we will be extremists, but what kind of extremists we will be.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/the-question-is-not-whether-we-will-be-extremists-but-what-kind-of/) [Martin Luther King Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/) > [We will see that the greatest problem confronting civilization is not merely religious extremism: rather, it is the larger set of cultural and intellectual…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sam-harris/we-will-see-that-the-greatest-problem-confronting-civilization-is-not/) [Sam Harris](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sam-harris/) > [“If Jack Dylan was Captain Ahab, Bart Breitner was Moby Dick. Jack felt exhilarated, as Ahab must have felt when he finally encountered the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-m-bello/if-jack-dylan-was-captain-ahab-bart-breitner-was-moby-dick-jack-felt/) [Mark M. Bello](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mark-m-bello/) > [There’s no need to get rid of literally hundreds of thousands of books that are fine simply because you have a problem with an…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mark-earley/there-s-no-need-to-get-rid-of-literally-hundreds-of-thousands-of/) Mark Earley > [I have a particular disdain for Islamic extremism, and of course, in both 'The Kite Runner' and 'A Thousand Splendid Suns' that's obvious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/khaled-hosseini/i-have-a-particular-disdain-for-islamic-extremism-and-of-course-in/) [Khaled Hosseini](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/khaled-hosseini/) > [If allowed to continue, this process will turn the United States into a declining, unfair society with an impoverished, angry, uneducated population under the…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-ferguson/if-allowed-to-continue-this-process-will-turn-the-united-states-into/) [Charles Ferguson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-ferguson/) > [One outcome is almost certain. Extremism stands to benefit enormously from an uncalculated adventure in Iraq,.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/mohammad-javad-zarif/one-outcome-is-almost-certain-extremism-stands-to-benefit-enormously/) [Mohammad Javad Zarif](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/mohammad-javad-zarif/) [Browse all 365 Extremism quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/extremism/) ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "“No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed, every individual member is virtuous and worthy.”", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Martin Luther King Jr" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people-may-be-oppressed-every/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Extremism" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people-may-be-oppressed-every/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/33c/martin-luther-king-jr-2-1523_extremism_no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people_2947478.jpg", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“No one can pretend that because a people may be oppressed, every individual member is virtuous and worthy.” — Martin Luther King Jr", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Martin Luther King Jr", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr-2/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "“No one can pretend that because...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people-may-be-oppressed-every/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr-2/no-one-can-pretend-that-because-a-people-may-be-oppressed-every/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```