19 quotes
We know through painful experience that freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
There can be no deep disappointment where there is not deep love.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
Shallow understanding from people of good will is more frustrating than absolute misunderstanding from people of ill will.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
We must never forget that all three were crucified for the same crime — the crime of extremism.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
There comes a time when the cup of endurance runs over, and men are no longer willing to be plunged into the abyss of despair.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
One has not only a legal, but a moral responsibility to obey just laws. Conversely, one has a moral responsibility to disobey unjust laws.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
The other, Jesus Christ, was an extremist for love, truth and goodness, and thereby rose above his environment. Perhaps the South, the nation and the world are in dire need of creative extremists.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
One who breaks an unjust law must do so openly, lovingly, and with a willingness to accept the penalty.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
I must affirm that it is just as wrong, or perhaps even more so, to use moral means to preserve immoral ends.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
We should never forget that everything Adolf Hitler did in Germany was "legal" and everything the Hungarian freedom fighters did in Hungary was "illegal."
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
In any nonviolent campaign there are four basic steps: collection of the facts to determine whether injustices exist; negotiation; self purification; and direct action.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
I have consistently preached that nonviolence demands that the means we use must be as pure as the ends we seek.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
Was not Jesus an extremist for love: "Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you."
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
An individual who breaks a law that conscience tells him is unjust, and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice, is in reality expressing the highest respect for law.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
If the inexpressible cruelties of slavery could not stop us, the opposition we now face will surely fail. We will win our freedom because the sacred heritage of our nation and the eternal will of God are embodied in our echoing demands.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
I must confess that I am not afraid of the word "tension." I have earnestly opposed violent tension, but there is a type of constructive, nonviolent tension which is necessary for growth.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
In your statement you assert that our actions, even though peaceful, must be condemned because they precipitate violence. But is this a logical assertion? Isn't this like condemning a robbed man because his possession of money precipitated the evil act of robbery?
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)
Like a boil that can never be cured so long as it is covered up but must be opened with all its ugliness to the natural medicines of air and light, injustice must be exposed, with all the tension its exposure creates, to the light of human conscience and the air of national opinion before it can be cured.
Letter from a Birmingham Jail (1963)