“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

— Martin Luther King, Jr.

1960s, The Trumpet of Conscience (1967)
Variant: In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.

Adopted from Wikiquote. Last update March 26, 2026. History

Help us to complete the source, original and additional information

Do you have more details about the quote "In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends." by Martin Luther King, Jr.?

Martin Luther King, Jr.658

American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Ci… 1929–1968

Martin Luther King, Jr. quote: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies but the silence of our friends.”

Yasir Qadhi (1975) Pakistani-American preacher and imam

“A word of command has made these silent figures our enemies; a word of command might transform them into our friends.”

Erich Maria Remarque book All Quiet on the Western Front

Paul after visiting Russian prisoners, Ch. 8
All Quiet on the Western Front (1929)

“We ought so to behave to one another as to avoid making enemies of our friends, and at the same time to make friends of our enemies.”

Pythagoras (-585–-495 BC) ancient Greek mathematician and philosopher

As quoted in Diogenes Laërtius, Lives and Opinions of Eminent Philosophers, "Pythagoras", Sect. 23, as translated in Dictionary of Quotations http://archive.org/details/dictionaryquota02harbgoog (1906) by Thomas Benfield Harbottle, p. 320

“Where the storyteller is loyal, eternally and unswervingly loyal to the story, there, in the end, silence will speak. Where the story has been betrayed, silence is but emptiness. But we, the faithful, when we have spoken our last word, will hear the voice of silence.”

Karen Blixen book Last Tales

"The Blank Page"
Last Tales (1957)
Context: Why, you are to become a story teller, and I shall give you the reasons! Hear then: Where the storyteller is loyal, eternally and unswervingly loyal to the story, there, in the end, silence will speak. Where the story has been betrayed, silence is but emptiness. But we, the faithful, when we have spoken our last word, will hear the voice of silence. Whether a small snotty lass understands it or not.

“We read that we ought to forgive our enemies; but we do not read that we ought to forgive our friends.”

Cosimo de' Medici (1389–1464) First ruler of the Medici political dynasty

Attributed to Cosimo de' Medici, Duke of Florence, in Apothegms by Francis Bacon, (1624) No. 206

“Our friends, the enemy.”

Pierre-Jean de Béranger (1780–1857) French poet and chansonnier

L'Opinion de ces Demoiselles, "Nos amis, nos ennemis" [Our friends, our enemies]. Expression used by the French during the truce after the capture of Sebastopol, referring to the Russians. Recorded in the London Times of that date. Reported in Hoyt's New Cyclopedia Of Practical Quotations (1922), p. 221.