quotable: martin luther king, jr
OK. This would be a more accurate rendition of the incorrect version of the MLK quote that went viral. The first sentence is entirely made up, the second sentence substitutes “hate” for “violence”. It should have appeared something like this:
I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy: “Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” (MLK)
- Unknown
Here is the actual quote from MLK:
The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. Returning violence for violence multiplies violence, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
If you use advanced google search mode, you can try finding the viral quote in different time periods. You won’t find it prior to yesterday, or you will only find several versions containing the latter parts of the false quote.
Originally published at What's that you said?. You can comment here or there.