Quotes about stand
page 8

“You stand on dead men's legs. You've never had any of your own. You couldn't walk alone between two sunrises and hustle the meat for your belly”

Jack London book The Sea-Wolf

Source: The Sea Wolf

Men, Dead

“Pain is inevitable. Suffering is optional. Say you’re running and you think, ‘Man, this hurts, I can’t take it anymore. The ‘hurt’ part is an unavoidable reality, but whether or not you can stand anymore is up to the runner himself.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Pain, Thinking, Reality, Suffering

“The sun persists in rising, so I make myself stand”

Suzanne Collins book Catching Fire

Source: Catching Fire

Sun

“Escape plan number seventeen," I told her. "Run away and open a juice stand in Fresno."
"Why Fresno?"
"Sounds like the kind of place people drink a lot of juice.”

Richelle Mead book The Fiery Heart

Source: The Fiery Heart

People, Drink

“No matter how long you stand there examining yourself naked before a mirror, you'll never see reflected what's inside.”

Haruki Murakami book What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

Source: What I Talk About When I Talk About Running

“Fact: upon locking yourself our of your apartment you will immediately need to use the bathroom. Fact: and then you will stand in place and watch your door. You will just stare. As though rebuffed by it. As though it has done this to you.”

Augusten Burroughs Possible Side Effects

Source: Possible Side Effects

“I have learned that particularly clever ideas do not always stand up under close scrutiny.”

Elizabeth Peters The Hippopotamus Pool

Source: The Hippopotamus Pool

Idea, Learning

“It was nice standing out in the darkness, in the damp grass, with spring coming on and a feeling in my heart of imminent disaster.”

Michael Chabon book Wonder Boys

Source: Wonder Boys

Feeling, Spring, Grass, Heart

“SABLE- A common knitting acronym that stands for Stash Acquisition Beyond Life Expectancy.”

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (1968) Canadian writer

Source: At Knit's End: Meditations for Women Who Knit Too Much

Life

“Be he the first to stand or the last, a man must stand," the father had told his adoring son. "And if there is only one man, then that man must stand alone." ~Thomas to Bruce Wayne”

Andrew Vachss Batman: The Ultimate Evil

Source: Batman: The Ultimate Evil

“Don't let the fear of the time it will take to accomplish something stand in the way of your doing it. The time will pass anyway; we might just as well put that passing time to the best possible use.”

Earl Nightingale (1921–1989) American motivational speaker

Fear, Way, Time

“There is evil! It's actual, like cement.

I can't believe it. I can't stand it.

Evil is not a view… it's an ingredient in us. In the world. Poured over us, filtering into our bodies, minds, hearts, into the pavement itself.”

Philip K. Dick book The Man in the High Castle

Source: The Man in the High Castle

World, Evil, Heart

“Sometimes, making the wrong choice is better than making no choice. You have the courage to go forward, that is rare. A person who stands at the fork, unable to pick, will never get anywhere.”

Terry Goodkind book Wizard's First Rule

Source: Wizard's First Rule

Courageous, Courage, Personality

“The world cries for men who are strong; strong in conviction, strong to lead, to stand, to suffer.”

Elisabeth Elliot (1926–2015) American missionary

Source: The Mark of a Man

Men, World, Strong, Suffering

“It all comes down to who is by your side and who is willing to stand up for love even when it seems impossible.”

Nicholas Sparks book A Walk to Remember

Source: A Walk to Remember

Love

“When honor and the Law no longer stand on the same side of the line, how do we choose[? ]”

Anne Bishop (1955) American fiction writer

Source: Heir to the Shadows

Law

“Life is a million different dots making one gigantic picture. And maybe the big picture is nice, maybe it's amazing, but if you're standing with your face pressed up against a bunch of black dots, it's really hard to tell.”

Rebecca Stead book Liar & Spy

Source: Liar & Spy

Life

“Because that's what you do, you stand up for your best friend. And you eat lunch with him and talk with him and share secrets and laugh a lot and go places and do stuff, and when you wake up in the morning, he's the first person you think of.”

Jerry Spinelli book Loser

Source: Loser

Secret, Thinking, Personality

“then on the shore
Of the wide world I stand alone, and think
Till love and fame to nothingness do sink.”

John Keats (1795–1821) English Romantic poet

Love, World, Thinking, Sad

“When heaven joins the battle against you, who could stand?”

Stephen R. Lawhead book Hood

Source: Hood

“Which of us has not felt that the character we are reading in the printed page is more real than the person standing beside us?”

Cornelia Funke (1958) author

Reading, Personality

“You always know the mark of a coward. A coward hides behind freedom. A brave person stands in front of freedom and defends it for others.”

Henry Rollins (1961) American singer-songwriter

Talk is Cheap Volume 1 (1998)
Source: Talk is Cheap: Volume 1

Courageous, Freedom, Personality

“Intense fear comes in waves; the body can’t stand it for long at a time.”

Thomas Harris Red Dragon

Source: Red Dragon

Fear, Time

“Maybe we're standing like coins on the edge?"
Allie considered this. "Meaning?"
"Meaning, we might be able to shake things up a little, and find a way to come up heads."
"Or tails," suggested Allie.
"What are youabout?" said Lief.
"Life and death.”

Neal Shusterman book Everlost

Source: Everlost

Life, Death, Way

“The art of life is more like the wrestler's art than the dancer's, in respect of this, that it should stand ready and firm to meet onsets which are sudden and unexpected.”

Marcus Aurelius book Meditations

VII, 61
Source: Meditations (c. 121–180 AD), Book VII

Life, Art

“There is no more hollow feeling than to stand with your honor shattered at your feet while soaring public reputation wraps you in rewards. That's soul-destroying. The other way around is merely very, very irritating.”

Lois McMaster Bujold A Civil Campaign

Source: Vorkosigan Saga, A Civil Campaign (1999)

Way, Feeling, Soul

“A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, Address on Courage (1965)
Context: Deep down in our nonviolent creed is the conviction that there are some things so dear, some things so precious, some things so eternally true that they’re worth dying for. And if a man happens to be 36 years old, as I happen to be, and some great truth stands before the door of his life, some great opportunity to stand up for that which is right, he’s afraid his home will get burned, or he’s afraid that he will lose his job, or he’s afraid that he will get shot or beat down by state troopers. He may go on and live until he’s 80, but he’s just as dead at 36 as he would be at 80. And the cessation of breathing in his life is merely the belated announcement of an earlier death of the spirit. He died...
A man dies when he refuses to stand up for that which is right. A man dies when he refuses to stand up for justice. A man dies when he refuses to take a stand for that which is true.
So we're going to stand up right here amid horses. We're going to stand up right here, in Alabama, amid the billy-clubs. We're going to stand up right here in Alabama amid police dogs, if they have them. We're going to stand up amid tear gas! We're going to stand up amid anything they can muster up, letting the world know that we are determined to be free!

“I mean, when the world comes for your children, with the knives out, it's your job to stand in the way.”

Joe Hill (1879–1915) Swedish-American labor activist, songwriter, and member of the Industrial Workers of the World

Source: Horns

Children, World, Way

“It's the perfect solution. We argue all the time. We can't stand each other. It's like we're already married.”

Lisa Kleypas (1964) American writer

Source: Married By Morning

Time, Perfection

“… A man can only stumble for so long before he either falls or stands up straight.”

Brandon Sanderson (1975) American fantasy writer

Source: The Well of Ascension

“Standing in front of a line up of Lay's potato chips, Qhuinn looked overhead to the speaker inset into the ceiling tiles. Next to him John Matthew signed”

Jessica Bird (1969) U.S. novelist

Source: Lover at Last

“Well I won't back down,
No I won't back down.
You could stand me up at the gates of hell,
But I won't back down.”

Tom Petty (1950–2017) American musician

I Won't Back Down, written with Jeff Lynne
Lyrics, Full Moon Fever (1989)
Source: Conversations with Tom Petty

Hell

“My god, Sage. Your eyes. How have I never noticed them? When you stand in the light. They're amazing… like molten gold. I could paint those… They're beautiful. You're beautiful.”

Richelle Mead Bloodlines

Source: Bloodlines

God, Beauty, Light, Painting

“What? You run? Coward! Stand still and die!”
Percy had no intention of doing that.”

Rick Riordan book The Son of Neptune

Source: The Son of Neptune

“Defining relationships over here? I see that even as the world plunges into darkness and peril, you two stand around discussing your love lives. Teenagers.”

Cassandra Clare book City of Heavenly Fire

Magnus Bane, to Clary Fray and Simon Lewis, pg. 61
Source: The Mortal Instruments, City of Heavenly Fire (2014)

Love, World

“If you want a lover I'll do anything you ask.

If you want a different kind of love I'll wear a mask.

If you want to strike me down in anger here I stand.

If you want a partner in life take my hand.

I'm your man.”

Leonard Cohen (1934–2016) Canadian poet and singer-songwriter

Love, Life, Lovers, Anger

“All for one and one for all, united we stand divided we fall.”

Alexandre Dumas book The Three Musketeers

Source: The Three Musketeers

“If I'm not the one thing you can't stand to lose,
If I'm not that arrow to the heart of you,
If you don't get drunk on my kiss,
If you think you can do better than this then I guess we're done.
Let's not drag this on,
Consider me gone…”

Reba McEntire (1955) American country music artist and actress

Kiss, Thinking, Heart

“I cannot stand people who disagree with me on the issue of Roe v. Wade… which I believe is about the proper way to cross a lake.”

Stephen Colbert (1964) American political satirist, writer, comedian, television host, and actor

People, Way

“It was like a song, one of those sweet, wrenching songs that makes the hair on your arms stand up. That makes you want to throw yourself on the floor and just bawl. Or fall backward and surrender to the music utterly.”

L.J. Smith (1965) American author

Source: Night World, No. 1

Music

“Only in our darkest hour do we find the light. Humans are destructive by nature. The world is lacking balance. Terrors are beginning to triumph over the simple joys. Stand back and watch, because you're going to be here when we fall.”

Amelia Atwater-Rhodes (1984) Novelist

World, Nature, Light, Joy

“Actually loneliness has a kind of fascination; it's a state of egotistical, inner grace that you can achieve only by standing guard on old, forgotten roads that no one travels anymore.”

Arturo Pérez-Reverte book The Fencing Master

Source: The Fencing Master

Travel, Loneliness

“If we don't stand up for others, who will be left to stand up for us?”

Karen Traviss British science fiction author

“There are times, young fellah, when every one of us must make a stand for human right and justice, or you never feel clean again.”

Arthur Conan Doyle book The Lost World

Source: The Lost World

Justice, Feeling, Time

“Kicking a police car? Really?' Caleb shrugged. 'Car offended me. It was sitting right where I wanted to stand. What would you do?”

Sherrilyn Kenyon (1965) Novelist

Cars

“If it's ka it'll come like a wind, and your plans will stand before it no more than a barn before a cyclone”

Stephen King book Wizard and Glass

Source: Wizard and Glass

“Being a hero doesn’t mean you’re invincible. It just means that you’re brave enough to stand up and do what’s needed.”

Rick Riordan The Mark of Athena

Source: The Mark of Athena

“When I stand and contemplate my fate and see the path along which you have led me, I reach my end, for artless I surrendered to one who is my undoing and my end.”

Gabriel García Márquez book Of Love and Other Demons

Source: Of Love and Other Demons

Fate

“My wife is my closest friend. Sure, I'm attracted to her in every way possible, but that's not the answer. Because I've been attracted to other people, and I couldn't stand 'em after a while.”

Clint Eastwood (1930) actor and director from the United States

People, Way

“Challenges are gifts that force us to search for a new center of gravity. Don't fight them. Just find a new way to stand.”

Oprah Winfrey (1954) American businesswoman, talk show host, actress, producer, and philanthropist

Way, Search, Fight

“We are going to fight. We are going to be hurt. And in the end, we will stand.”

Stephen King book The Dark Tower II: The Drawing of the Three

Source: The Drawing of the Three

Fight, Hurt

“It is only when we stand up, with all our failings and sufferings, and try to support others rather than withdraw into ourselves, that we can fully live the life of community.”

Jean Vanier (1928–2019) Canadian humanitarian

Source: Community And Growth

Life, Communication, Support, Suffering

“love is what moves the world, I've always thought… it is the only thing which allows men and women to stand in a world where gravity always seems to want to pull them down… bring them low… and make them crawl…”

Stephen King (1947) American author

Love, Women, Men, World

“Then a homeless man with a dog approached us and put his hand out. This happens to be something that I have a real problem with: homeless people with pets who approach you for food when they have a perfectly delicious dog standing right there?”

Chelsea Handler book Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

Source: Are You There, Vodka? It's Me, Chelsea

People, Food, Dogs, Problem

“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies.”

Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826) 3rd President of the United States of America

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. book Strength to Love

Strength to Love, p. 25
1960s, Strength to Love (1963)
Context: The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy. The true neighbor will risk his position, his prestige and even his life for the welfare of others.

Courageous, Life, Business, For Men

“Julie always tried to stand beside me, or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.”

Wendelin Van Draanen Flipped

Source: Flipped

Way

“Shades of a new morning standing still are worse than the shades of night. At least a person can understand the dark of night. It’s not fickle like the day.”

Sarah E. Wright (1929–2009) American writer

Source: This Child's Gonna Live

Understanding, Personality, Night

“I felt like a kid standing in the world's greatest video arcade without any quarters, unable to do anything but walk around and watch the other kids play.”

Ernest Cline book Ready Player One

Source: Ready Player One

World

“What a delighted fascination it is, to stand aside and watch our dearest friend perform on stage without us.”

Richard Bach (1936) American spiritual writer

Source: The Bridge Across Forever: A True Love Story

“Weary of myself, and sick of asking
What I am, and what I ought to be,
At this vessel's prow I stand, which bears me
Forwards, forwards, o'er the starlit sea.”

Matthew Arnold (1822–1888) English poet and cultural critic who worked as an inspector of schools

Sea

“That was the one thing she knew now. Some chances came and went, and if you missed them, you could spend the rest of your life standing alone, waiting for an opportunity that had already passed you by.”

Kristin Hannah (1960) American writer

Source: Angel Falls

Life, Chance, Waiting

“When I see people stand fully in their truth, or when I see someone fall down, get back up, and say, “Damn. That really hurt, but this is important to me and I’m going in again”—my gut reaction is, “What a badass.”

Brené Brown (1965) US writer and professor

Source: Rising Strong

People, Truth, Hurt

“She knew that even pain can be confessed, but to confess happiness is to stand naked, delivered to the witness, yet they could let each other see it without the need of protection.”

Ayn Rand book The Fountainhead

Source: The Fountainhead

Pain, Happiness

“I have a dream that one day, down in Alabama, with its vicious racists, with its governor having his lips dripping with the words of "interposition" and "nullification" — one day right there in Alabama little black boys and black girls will be able to join hands with little white boys and white girls as sisters and brothers. I have a dream today. I have a dream that one day every valley shall be exalted, every hill and mountain shall be made low, the rough places will be made plain, and the crooked places will be made straight, and the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together. This is our hope. This is the faith with which I return to the South. With this faith we will be able to hew out of the mountain of despair a stone of hope. With this faith we will be able to transform the jangling discords of our nation into a beautiful symphony of brotherhood. With this faith we will be able to work together, to pray together, to struggle together, to go to jail together, to stand up for freedom together, knowing that we will be free one day.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, (1963)
Source: I Have A Dream

Faith, Beauty, Dreams, Hope

“It takes a great deal of courage to stand alone even if you believe in something very strongly.”

Reginald Rose Twelve Angry Men

Source: Twelve Angry Men

Courageous, Courage

“And Finally I put down the last and the best advice I knew, on growing older. 'Stand up straight and try not to get fat.”

Diana Gabaldon book Voyager

Source: Voyager

“Don't wait for it," I said. "Create a world, your world. Alone. Stand alone. Create. And then the love will come to you, then it comes to you. It was only when I wrote my first book that the world I wanted to live in opened to me.”

Anaïs Nin (1903–1977) writer of novels, short stories, and erotica

Source: The Diary of Anais Nin Volume 1 1931-1934: Vol. 1

Love, Books, World, Waiting

“In my mind, the men and women of NASA are history's modern pioneers. They attempt the impossible, accept failure, and then back to the drawing board while the rest of us stand back and criticize.”

Dan Brown book Deception Point

Source: Deception Point

Women, Men, History, Failure

“Wearing your clothes or standing in the shower for over an hour, pretending
that this skin is your skin, these hands your hands,
these shins, these soapy flanks”

Richard Siken (1967) American poet

Source: Crush

Clothes

“He walked out of the office to find Kevin Daley standing there. 'I like your style,' Kevin said.
Thank you,' Alex said. 'I like it, too.”

Susan Beth Pfeffer The Dead and the Gone

Source: The Dead and the Gone

“I looked around at us all: me in my nightgown, Kiyo bare-chested, Dorian in his extravagant robes, and Tim in his Native getup. God, I muttered, standing up, we all look like the village people.”

Richelle Mead (1976) American writer

Source: Storm Born

God, People

“What's the point of not taking chances? I don't know if I could stand living my whole life afraid.”

Ilsa J. Bick (1957) American writer

Source: Drowning Instinct

Life, Chance

“If we hope to go anywhere or develop ourselves in any way, we can only step from where we are standing. If we don't really know where we are standing… We may only go in circles…”

Jon Kabat-Zinn (1944) American academic

Source: Wherever You Go, There You Are: Mindfulness Meditation in Everyday Life

Hope, Way

“Hmph," she said. "I'd like to see you learn how to manage sitting and standing up straight in stays and petticoats and a dress with a foot's worth of train!"
"So would I," said Gideon from across the room.”

Cassandra Clare book Clockwork Prince

Source: Clockwork Prince

Learning, Training

“Sometimes, if you stand on the bottom rail of a bridge and lean over to watch the river slipping slowly away beneath you, you will suddenly know everything there is to be known.”

A.A. Milne (1882–1956) British author

“Freely we serve
Because we freely love, as in our will
To love or not; in this we stand or fall.”

John Milton (1608–1674) English epic poet

Love

“The society whose citizens are willing to stand and fight is the one with the best chance of surviving long enough for history to even notice.”

Orson Scott Card book Empire

Source: Empire

History, Chance, Fight

“Hold on to that new, enlarge vision of victory that God has given you. Start expecting things to change in your favor. Dare to boldly declare that you are standing strong against the forces of darkness.”

Joel Osteen (1963) American televangelist and author

Source: Your Best Life Now: 7 Steps to Living at Your Full Potential

God, Strong, Change, Victory

“On a sticky August evening two weeks before her due date, Ashima Ganguli stands in the kitchen of a Central Square apartment, combining Rice Krispies and Planters peanuts and chopped red onion in bowl.”

Jhumpa Lahiri book The Namesake

Source: The Namesake

“a wind has blown the rain away & the sky away & all the leaves away, & the trees stand. i think i, too, have known autumn too long.”

E.E. Cummings (1894–1962) American poet

Beauty, Autumn, Thinking, Tree

“I sounded like Horton the Elephant. "A person is a person no matter how small." What the hell was I doing standing in the middle of a cave, in the dark, surrounded by wererats, quoting Dr. Seuss, and trying to kill a one-thousand-year-old vampire?”

Laurell K. Hamilton (1963) Novelist

Quotes, Hell, Personality

“Stop running, you fools!" Kronos yelled. "Stand and ACKK!"
That last part was because a panicked Hyperborean giant stumbled backwards and sat on top of him. The lord of time disappeared under a giant blue butt.”

Rick Riordan (1964) American writer

Fools, Time, Parting

“You don't make progress by standing on the sidelines, whimpering and complaining. You make progress by implementing ideas.”

Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005) American politician

Motivational, Powerful, Idea

“We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence (1967)
Context: We are now faced with the fact that tomorrow is today. We are confronted with the fierce urgency of now. In this unfolding conundrum of life and history there is such a thing as being too late. Procrastination is still the thief of time. Life often leaves us standing bare, naked, and dejected with a lost opportunity. The tide in the affairs of men does not remain at flood — it ebbs. We may cry out desperately for time to pause in her passage, but time is adamant to every plea and rushes on. Over the bleached bones and jumbled residues of numerous civilizations are written the pathetic words, "Too late."

Life, History, Time

“The best you'll ever do is to understand yourself, know what it is that you want, and not let the cattle stand in your way.”

Janet Fitch book White Oleander

Source: White Oleander

Way, Understanding

“I wish that for just one time you could stand inside my shoes. You'd know what a drag it is to see you.”

Bob Dylan (1941) American singer-songwriter, musician, author, and artist

Song lyrics, Highway 61 Revisited (1965), Positively 4th Street
Source: Lyrics, 1962-1985

Shoe, Time

“There is a fine line between fishing and just standing on the shore like an idiot.”

Steven Wright (1955) American actor and author

Fish

“Mr Churchill, to what do you attribute your success in life?

Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down. And never sit down when you can lie down.”

Winston S. Churchill (1874–1965) Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

Variant: Mr.Churchill, to what do you attribute your success in life? Conservation of energy. Never stand up when you can sit down. And never sit down when you can lie down.

Life, Lie, Success

“She answered by standing and kissing him first and held his cheeks and closed her eyes and felt sure as bones and deep as blood that she had found her place.”

Shannon Hale The Goose Girl

Source: The Goose Girl

Kiss

“Heathcliff, make the world stop right here. Make everything stop and stand still and never move again. Make the moors never change and you and I never change.”

Emily Brontë book Wuthering Heights

Source: Wuthering Heights

World, Change

“All I could think of when I got a look at the place from the outside was what fun it would be to stand out there and watch it burn down.”

Shirley Jackson book The Haunting of Hill House

Source: The Haunting of Hill House

Thinking

“A mother's love for her child is like nothing else in the world. It knows no law, no pity. It dares all things and crushes down remorselessly all that stands in its path.”

Agatha Christie book The Hound of Death

Source: The Hound of Death

Mother's Day, For Mother, Love, World

“How can you stand to have me near you?" "The only thing I can't handle is your leaving.”

Jessica Bird book Lover Eternal

Source: Lover Eternal

“The Chinese use two brush strokes to write the word 'crisis.' One brush stroke stands for danger; the other for opportunity. In a crisis, be aware of the danger--but recognize the opportunity.”

John F. Kennedy (1917–1963) 35th president of the United States of America

“You can't outwit fate by standing on the sidelines placing little sidebets about the outcome of life. either you wade in and risk everything you have to play the game or you don't play at all. and if u don't play u can't win.”

Judith McNaught (1944) American writer

Variant: You can't outwit fate by standing on the sidelines placing little side bets about the outcome of life. Either you wade in, risk everything you have to play the game or you don't play at all. And if you can't play, you can't win.
Source: Paradise

Life, Fate, Game

“The bridge fell away into the chasm, and the Cyclops howled… with delight, because he was standing right next to us.”

Rick Riordan book The Sea of Monsters

Source: The Sea of Monsters

“A carefully cultivated heart will, assisted by the grace of God, foresee, forestall, or transform most of the painful situations before which others stand like helpless children saying “Why?”

Dallas Willard (1935–2013) American philosopher

Source: Renovation of the Heart: Putting On the Character of Christ

God, Pain, Children, Heart

“Sometimes I imagine myself looking back on right now and I think like where will I be standing when I look back Will right now look like the beginning of a great life or… or what”

Jennifer Egan A Visit from the Goon Squad

Source: A Visit from the Goon Squad

Life, Imagination, Thinking

“What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love.”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

1960s, Where Do We Go from Here: Chaos or Community? (1967)
Context: Power properly understood is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political and economic change. … Now a lot of us are preachers, and all of us have our moral convictions and concerns, and so often have problems with power. There is nothing wrong with power if power is used correctly. You see, what happened is that some of our philosophers got off base. And one of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites — polar opposites — so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love.
It was this misinterpretation that caused Nietzsche, who was a philosopher of the will to power, to reject the Christian concept of love. It was this same misinterpretation which induced Christian theologians to reject the Nietzschean philosophy of the will to power in the name of the Christian idea of love. Now, we've got to get this thing right. What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and love without power is sentimental and anemic. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice, and justice at its best is power correcting everything that stands against love. And this is what we must see as we move on. What has happened is that we have had it wrong and confused in our own country, and this has led Negro Americans in the past to seek their goals through power devoid of love and conscience.
This is leading a few extremists today to advocate for Negroes the same destructive and conscienceless power that they have justly abhorred in whites. It is precisely this collision of immoral power with powerless morality which constitutes the major crisis of our times.

Peaceful, Love, Justice

Quotes about stand page 8

Quotes about stand
page 8