"The Negro cannot win the respect of..." - Quote by Martin Luther King Jr
The Negro cannot win the respect of his oppressor by acquiescing; he merely increases the oppressor's arrogance and contempt.
More by Martin Luther King Jr
“We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.”
“If you can't be a sun, be a star. For it isn't by size that you win or fail. Be the best of whatever you are.”
“When I am commanded to love, I am commanded to restore community, to resist injustice, and to meet the needs of my brothers.”
More on Resistance
“India will not be a helpless partner in her own exploitation and foreign domination.”
“We must learn to be self-reliant and independent of schools, courts, protection and patronage of a Government we seek to end, if it will not mend.”
“What could be more futile, more insane, than to create inner resistance to something that already is?”
More on Dignity
“In the process of gaining our rightful place, we must not be guilty of wrongful deeds. Let us not seek to satisfy our thirst for freedom by drinking from the cup of bitterness and hatred. We must forever conduct our struggle on the high plane of dignity and discipline.”
“My belief in free competitive economic enterprise does not rest solely or even mainly on arguments of economic efficiency, though, heaven knows, these are cogent enough. It rests essentially on the view that the free market is the only safe way of ensuring that productive effort is directed towards supplying what individuals actually want, and in a way which secures the dignity and independence of the worker.”
“Human dignity begins to assert itself only at the point where man is distinguishable from the beast by pity for it.”