I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to

The words of Martin Luther King, Jr. — “I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear” — stand like a pillar of eternal wisdom, forged in the furnace of suffering and compassion. Spoken during one of history’s darkest hours, they shine with the light of moral clarity — a reminder that love, though often crucified by violence and injustice, remains the only power capable of redeeming both victim and oppressor. In these few words, King reveals the spiritual law that guided his movement and his life: that the soul cannot be freed by hatred, only enslaved by it.

King uttered these words amid the turbulence of the American Civil Rights Movement, when his people were beaten, jailed, and humiliated, yet refused to return cruelty with cruelty. He had seen what hate could do — it burned cities, hardened hearts, and left behind only ashes of bitterness. And so he chose love — not the sentimental kind, but love as resistance, fierce and unwavering. This was the same agape, the divine love spoken of by Christ — love that seeks the good of all, even the enemy. To King, love was not weakness; it was moral strength, the courage to rise above vengeance and continue believing in the possibility of redemption.

The origin of this quote reflects King’s lifelong devotion to the teachings of Jesus and Mahatma Gandhi. Both men believed that love is not passive; it is an active force that disarms evil through its refusal to mirror it. When King said he “decided to stick with love,” he was making a conscious, daily choice — for love is not an emotion one drifts into, but a discipline one practices. He understood that hatred corrodes the soul of the hater, consuming their peace and clarity until they become what they oppose. “Hate is too great a burden to bear” because it shackles both the heart and the mind, turning the oppressed into prisoners of their own rage.

Consider the life of Nelson Mandela, who, like King, endured injustice yet emerged without vengeance. After twenty-seven years in prison, Mandela walked free and extended his hand to those who had imprisoned him. He said, “When I walked out of the gate, I knew that if I did not leave my bitterness and hatred behind, I’d still be in prison.” His story mirrors King’s message perfectly: love does not ignore injustice, but transcends it. It frees the heart from the poison of hatred, enabling one to rebuild what cruelty has destroyed. In both men we see that forgiveness is not the denial of pain, but the liberation of the spirit.

Yet, King’s call to love was not easy — it was heroic. It meant standing unarmed before armed men, answering insults with dignity, and facing death with serenity. It required a strength far greater than hatred, for hatred is easy; it rises naturally from fear and pride. Love, on the other hand, demands vision — the ability to see humanity even in the heart of the oppressor. King’s revolution was not one of bullets but of hearts transformed, and it changed the course of history. Through his example, we learn that to “stick with love” is not to retreat from struggle, but to fight with higher weapons: truth, patience, and mercy.

In a world that still burns with anger and division, King’s wisdom remains as necessary as ever. Many today believe that outrage is power, that destruction is justice. But King knew that hatred, no matter how justified it feels, destroys the soul of its wielder. The true warrior is not the one who conquers his enemy, but the one who conquers himself. Love, though slow to triumph, builds what hate forever tears down. It restores dignity, bridges wounds, and gives meaning to suffering.

Let this then be the lesson of King’s words: choose love, even when it costs you. Refuse to let bitterness define your strength. When wronged, seek not revenge, but understanding. When you must fight, fight for justice — not out of hate for the oppressor, but out of love for the oppressed and even for the world that needs healing. For hatred is a burden too heavy for the human heart, but love, though it demands much, gives infinitely more.

Thus, as the ancients might have said: let love be your compass in the storm. For hate burns like fire, consuming all it touches; but love endures like light, illuminating even the darkest night. And when your life is weighed in the balance, may it be said of you — as it was of Martin Luther King, Jr. — that you chose not the easy road of bitterness, but the divine path of love.