Follow up on yesterday’s MLK Quote: part fake, part real.

An update on the quote I posted here yesterday:

 “I mourn the loss of thousands of precious lives, but I will not rejoice in the death of one, not even an enemy. Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that.”

which was attributed to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is in fact partially a King quote, and partially attributed to Twitter user Jessica Dovey. CNN reports that

Beginning with “Returning hate for hate …,” the last three sentences are in fact, a King quote from his book “Strength to Love.” But the first sentence, and arguably the one most pointedly apropos to the bin Laden aftermath, is not. […]

Twitter user Jessica Dovey would later say the partial misquote originated with her. She posted a link to her Facebook page, on which it appears she wrote the first sentiment and followed it with the King language — in quotation marks and followed by the attribution “MLK jr.”

Moral of this story: Be careful what you tweet, and don’t believe everything you read on the internet.

-AidanAbroad

One response to “Follow up on yesterday’s MLK Quote: part fake, part real.

  1. Check your citations AND your punctuation!

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