Every time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace.… But one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal.… In the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and, ultimately, destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.

About Martin Luther King Jr.

Martin Luther King Jr. (born Michael King Jr.; January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister who was a prominent leader of the civil rights movement from 1955 until his assassination in 1968. He advanced civil rights in the United States through...

More quotations from Martin Luther King Jr.

Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

forgiveness attitude

Ordinarily, a person leaving a courtroom with a conviction behind him would wear a somber face. But I left with a smile. I knew that I was a convicted criminal, but I was proud of my crime.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Everything that we see is a shadow cast by that which we do not see.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

Insanity is just what we call stupidity when it doesn't make sense.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

stupidity

Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.

—Martin Luther King Jr.

silence

History

1 Jan 2016 Added
26 Oct 2026 Wording changed

Previous wording

Every time we drop our bombs in North Vietnam, President Johnson talks eloquently about peace. . . . But one day we must come to see that peace is not merely a distant goal we seek, but that it is a means by which we arrive at that goal. . . . In the final analysis, means and ends must cohere because the end is preexistent in the means, and, ultimately, destructive means cannot bring about constructive ends.