--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: This is the unusual thing about…" description: "\"This is the unusual thing about nonviolence -- nobody is defeated, everybody shares in the victory.\" — Martin Luther King, Jr" image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/martin-luther-king-jr-127_defeated_this-is-the-unusual-thing-about-nonviole_2378461.png" --- # This is the unusual thing about nonviolence -- nobody is… ![“This is the unusual thing about nonviolence -- nobody is defeated, everybody shares in the victory.” quote by Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/martin-luther-king-jr-127_defeated_this-is-the-unusual-thing-about-nonviole_2378461.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/martin-luther-king-jr-127_defeated_this-is-the-unusual-thing-about-nonviole_2378461.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/817/martin-luther-king-jr-127_defeated_this-is-the-unusual-thing-about-nonviole_2378461.png) > “This is the unusual thing about nonviolence -- nobody is defeated, everybody shares in the victory.” [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Nonviolence defeats no one; all participants share the victory, fostering mutual respect and collective success. **In simple terms:** Nonviolence benefits everyone. Key Takeaway Practice peaceful resistance. Themes peace justice unity Mood inspirational hopeful Type philosophical motivational When to use this quote - Protests - community building - conflict resolution Key Concepts Civil rights nonviolent resistance Questions to Reflect On - How does nonviolence create shared victory? - What challenges arise in maintaining peace? A Different Perspective Opponents may still feel threatened. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Nonviolence](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/nonviolence/) [Peacebuilding](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/peacebuilding/) [Victory](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/victory/) ## Related quotes > [The thing about nonviolence is that it spreads. When you get people to participate in nonviolent action - whether it's a fast, a march,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/dolores-huerta/the-thing-about-nonviolence-is-that-it-spreads-when-you-get-people-to/) [Dolores Huerta](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/dolores-huerta/) > [We must follow nonviolence and love.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/we-must-follow-nonviolence-and-love/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [A second basic fact that characterizes nonviolence is that it does not seek to defeat or humiliate the opponent, but to win his friendship…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/a-second-basic-fact-that-characterizes-nonviolence-is-that-it-does/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nonviolence is an imperative in order to bring about ultimate community.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-is-an-imperative-in-order-to-bring-about-ultimate/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I'm grateful to God that, through the Negro church, the dimension of nonviolence entered our struggle.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-m-grateful-to-god-that-through-the-negro-church-the-dimension-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [The end of violence or the aftermath of violence is bitterness. The aftermath of nonviolence is reconciliation and the creation of a beloved community.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/the-end-of-violence-or-the-aftermath-of-violence-is-bitterness-the/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-means-avoiding-not-only-external-physical-violence-but/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [ \[Nonviolence\] is directed against forces of evil rather than against persons who happen to be doing the evil. It is evil that the nonviolent… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-is-directed-against-forces-of-evil-rather-than-against/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [ \[nonviolence\] seeks to secure moral ends through moral means. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-seeks-to-secure-moral-ends-through-moral-means/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nonviolence is the answer to the crucial political moral questions of our time.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-is-the-answer-to-the-crucial-political-moral-questions-of/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Here is the true meaning and value of compassion and nonviolence, when it helps us to see the enemy's point of view, to hear…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/here-is-the-true-meaning-and-value-of-compassion-and-nonviolence-when/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nonviolence is the most potent technique for oppressed people. Unearned suffering is redemptive.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-is-the-most-potent-technique-for-oppressed-people/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [If your opponent has a conscience, then follow Gandhi and nonviolence. But if your enemy has no conscience like Hitler, then follow Bonhoeffer.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/if-your-opponent-has-a-conscience-then-follow-gandhi-and-nonviolence/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [Nonviolence is a powerful and just weapon. which cuts without wounding and ennobles the man who wields it. It is a sword that heals.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/nonviolence-is-a-powerful-and-just-weapon-which-cuts-without-wounding/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) > [I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martin-luther-king-jr/i-have-consistently-preached-that-nonviolence-demands-that-the-means/) [Martin Luther King, Jr](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## 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/) [Explore all 1,210 Martin Luther King, Jr quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martin-luther-king-jr/) ## More Defeated quotes > [Prefer to be defeated in the presence of the wise than to excel among fools.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/prefer-to-be-defeated-in-the-presence-of-the-wise-than-to-excel-among/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The devil has been defeated, stop trying to defeat him. 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You were created to be victorious.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/joel-osteen/you-were-never-created-to-live-depressed-defeated-guilty-condemned/) [Joel Osteen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/joel-osteen/) > [One's dream is defeated not by unsolvable problems, but by all the more-or-less satisfactory solutions that kill it forever.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-breault/one-s-dream-is-defeated-not-by-unsolvable-problems-but-by-all-the/) [Robert Breault](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-breault/) > [For there is hardly a state or nation in existence which has not once had the misfortune, even if it was in the right…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/adolf-hitler/for-there-is-hardly-a-state-or-nation-in-existence-which-has-not-once/) [Adolf Hitler](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/adolf-hitler/) > [Faith is always at a disadvantage; it is a perpetually defeated thing which survives all conquerors.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/gilbert-k-chesterton/faith-is-always-at-a-disadvantage-it-is-a-perpetually-defeated-thing/) [Gilbert K. 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