But to my benefit, I’m appreciative of the fact that you’ll come to my aid should someone consider mugging me, and at my advancing age, that IS a possibility. In all seriousness, however, I don’t believe your interpretation was MLK’s original intent. I simply believe he was saying that revenge, retaliation or aggressive acts are not desirable and should not be our first line of defense. Your saving me from an aggressive act is not violence or retaliation. In fact, I’m sure that as you exert your calming influence; the aggressor would back right off. I can see the headlines now, “Contrarian saves the old lady on Main Street and he didn’t even have to pull out his .45.”

“We probably should be concerned about terrorism but you might (or then again, you might not) end terrorism by terrorizing others”.

We all have to be concerned about terrorism, but you will never end terrorism by terrorizing others.

It is not enough to say we must not wage war. It is necessary to love peace and sacrifice for it.

We must concentrate not merely on the negative expulsion of war but the postive affirmation of peace.

If you succumb to the temptation of using violence in the struggle…your chief legacy to the future will be an endless reign of meaningless chaos.

The bombs in Vietnam explode at home; they destroy the hopes and possibilities for a decent America.

I have condemned any organizer of war, regardless of his rank or nationality.

Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.

We have guided missiles and misguided men.

The greatest purveyor of violence in the world today is my own government.

Wars are poor chisels for carving out peaceful tomorrows.

The chain reaction of evil–wars producing more wars — must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression, and retaliation. Nothing good ever comes of violence.