Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Quote 

"In no sense do I advocate evading or defying the law ...
That would lead to anarchy. An individual who breaks a law
that his conscience tells him is unjust,
and who willingly accepts the penalty of imprisonment
in order to arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice,
is in reality expressing the highest respect for law."

by:
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
(1929-1968), US civil rights leader
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Reader comments about this quote:
Bravo! I would only argue as to what the definition of "law" is; whether it is rules, guidelines, principles, things as they really are, or just what people say they are. Any man who will defy secular (man-made) law, in order to "arouse the conscience of the community over its injustice", is truly showing respect for natural law (the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God).
 -- Logan, Memphis, TN		 
John Locke and many of the U.S. founders stated the same principle in different ways. I like Rev. King's version.
 -- Mike, Norwalk		 
Easier said then done--if we all had such true moral conviction we would not pay our income tax that supports this insufferable adminsitration's war.
 -- EGL, LA		 
If we all had such true moral conviction we wouldn't ever pay an income tax, since the tax itself is immoral in that it is not applied to everyone equally. As for the war, EGL, do you find the war insufferable or is it just the administration?
 -- Ken, Allyn, WA		 
Ken-BOTH!
 -- EGL, LA		 
The name Nelson Mandela comes to mind, who spent over 25 years in prison for defying South Africa's unjust apartheid laws with no guarsntee of ocerturning them, or ever getting out of prison at all.
 -- Jack, Green, OH		 
It is the responsibility of the individual to resist bad laws -- and the responsibility of his peers (i.e. the jury) to find him innocent.
 -- E Archer, NYC		 
Breaking laws does NOT show respect for law, but it WILL lead to anarchy.
 -- Joe, Rochester, MI		 
The road from the 'Rule of Law' to the 'Rule of JUST Law' is paved with broken bad law.
 -- Okiya Omtatah Okoiti, Nairobi, Kenya		 
Go to the site NWTRCC.org to learn practical means of non-cooperation with war tax paying.
 -- Anonymous, asheville		 
breaking the law will never show your respect for your country
 -- angelica, milwaukee		 
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