Original artwork, not a still
Strength to Love · 1963
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
Behind the line
What it means
Our interpretation.
King is naming a danger that feels worse than open malice: the person who is certain they are right and has never checked. Sincerity and conscience, he says, do not excuse harm done by someone who will not learn. It is quoted whenever confident wrongness meets real power, from school boards to comment sections.
Context reviewed
In context
Spoilers for Strength to LoveShow the scene
Martin Luther King Jr. wrote this in the sermon "Love in Action", the fourth chapter of his 1963 collection Strength to Love (Wikiquote places it in section 3 of that chapter). King drafted "Love in Action", along with "Loving Your Enemies" and "Shattered Dreams", in July 1962 while jailed for about two weeks after the Albany Movement prayer vigil, then finished the book after his release. Strength to Love was published in 1963.
Sources (2)
- Wikiquote: Martin Luther King Jr., Strength to Love (1963)Strength to Love (1963) section, entry citing Ch. 4 Love in action, Sct. 3Reference checked
- King Institute (Stanford) Encyclopedia: Strength to Loveaccount of the writing of the bookReference checked
Context reviewed
