A Tough Mind and a Tender Heart

by Martin Luther King Jr.

'Far from being the pious injunction of a Utopian dreamer, the command to love one's enemy is an absolute necessity for our survival'

Advocating love as strength and non-violence as the most powerful weapon there is, these sermons and writings from the heart of the civil rights movement show Martin Luther King's rhetorical power at its most fiery and uplifting.

One of twenty new books in the bestselling Penguin Great Ideas series. This new selection showcases a diverse list of thinkers who have helped shape our world today, from anarchists to stoics, feminists to prophets, satirists to Zen Buddhists.

Genres: Nonfiction, Classics, Philosophy, Essays, Politics, History

128 pages, Paperback

Published September 24, 2020

About the author

Martin Luther King, Jr. was one of the pivotal leaders of the American civil rights movement. King was a Baptist minister, one of the few leadership roles available to black men at the time. He became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1955–1956) and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1957), serving as its first president. His efforts led to the 1963 March on Washington, where King delivered his “I Have a Dream” speech. Here he raised public consciousness of the civil rights movement and established himself as one of the greatest orators in U.S. history. In 1964, King became the youngest person to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for his efforts to end segregation and racial discrimination through civil disobedience and other non-violent means.

King was assassinated on April 4, 1968, in Memphis, Tennessee. He was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Jimmy Carter in 1977. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a national holiday in the United States in 1986. In 2004, King was posthumously awarded a Congressional Gold Medal.

Reviews

[emma]

i commemorated dr. king's legacy on mlk day with his own words. they serve as a critical reminder that, although he has been defanged in political memory, he was a brave and controversial idealist with searing, world-changing theories all his life.

this little book contains beautifully rendered arguments for affirmative action, for pacifism, for unions, and for socioeconomic equality that are as emotionally effective as they are logical.

it hurts the heart to read the final pages of this selection, in which dr. king shares his hopes that jfk's assassination and the nonviolence of the civil rights movement have begun a long turn toward peace and forgiveness in the world. it doesn't feel that way lately. but i'll continue to hope.

bottom line: on this mlk day and every other day, i feel grateful and i feel hopeful.

[Tanan]

เนื้อหาพูดถึงการต่อสู้เรื่องสิทธิด้วยสันติวิธี โดยทางผู้จัดทำฉบับภาษาไทยนี้คัดสรรมาจากประมวลเทศนา The Gift of Love ของดร.คิง ซึ่งส่วนใหญ่อิงกับความสอนศาสนาคริสต์เรื่องความรัก เนื้อหาในเล่มล้วนช่วยยกระดับจิตใจและเปลี่ยนแปลงสังคมของเราได้

เป็นหนังสือที่ทำให้ใจแกร่งและมีหัวใจที่อ่อนโยนได้ดีเล่มหนึ่ง🙂

[pola]

very impressed by the writing

[yangkhama]

Not that I knew much about Dr. King prior, but I did know that he was a God's man & I had expected to encounter sermons in between his political speeches written & given during the heart of the American Civil Right's Movement. However, I did not paint him to be a writer as lyrical even if his rhetorical power & oratory is world renowned. Albeit his sermons acutely failed to stir anything in my godless self, I appreciated the uplifting nature of them all where he advocated non-violence, using Judeo-Christian themes & giving the Gandhian example as expected.
The political essays that followed were more engaging, answering questions like why 1963 was the defining year of the movement amongst others.
Dr. King gives us a lesson in history with his own literary flair.

[Patrice]

I didn't even try to highlight passages as the whole book is a highlight itself. Personal favourites were the first two essays with Judeo-Christian themes: A Tough Mind and A Tender Heart and Loving Your Enemies. Though along with the rest of the writings, I am awed by MLK's way with words and rhetorical power. This is a must read even decades after the height of the civil rights movement. In a time when it is obvious that we are not where we should be when it comes to a free society, advocating for love as strength and non-violence as a powerful weapon is still as relevant.
"Nonviolence, the answer to the Negroes' need, may become the answer to the most desperate need of all humanity."

[Nalin Looknam]

หนังสือที่จำนวนหน้าไม่หนามากนัก แต่หนักด้วยเนื้อหา
การทำความเข้าใจในเรื่องสันติวิธี การขับเคลื่อนสังคมให้เป็นดั่งสังคมในอุดมคติ ผ่านชุดความคิดที่มีการิเคราะห์แนวคิดสังคมในรูปแบบต่าง ๆ ที่มีจุดแข็งและจุดอ่อนที่ต่างกันไป
และพื้นฐานสำคัญสำหรับการขับเคลื่อนสังคม ที่ขับเคลื่อนด้วยความรักที่เราพึงมีต่อกัน

[Tippy Chee]

สำนวนแปลอ่านยากนิดหน่อย แต่ช่วยหนุนใจได้ดี ในสถานการณ์ที่เรามองเห็นแต่ความอยุติธรรมเกลื่อนอยู่เต็มแผ่นดิน ทำให้เราหวนนึกถึงคำสั่งอย่างหนึ่งของพระเยซูที่บอกให้เรา "รักศัตรู" นี่คือหน้าที่เรา ส่วนที่อยู่นอกเหนือจากนี้ ขอฝากไว้ในพระหัตถ์พระเจ้า

[Elizabeth]

This was a really interesting read. The manner in which the book combines both a historical justification of the revolution of 1963, and an explanation of what the revolution stood for not only serves as a lesson of philosophy and morals, but also of history. When it comes to the author, Martin Luther King Jr. offers a philosophical perspective I have yet to encounter. He manages to assert a significant element of religion into his ideology, wherein it is fascinating to see the way in which he combines religious justification in tandem with academic justifications. This unique perspective provoked an assessment of how we view both ourselves and our enemies, and made me consider the capacity for both good and evil within all of us. All in all, it is a book full of hope, well researched, and informative, wherein all these aspects make it the masterpiece that it is.

[Eleanor]

Martin Luther King, Jr was murdered in 1968. It is heartbreaking to think that most of the things he wrote and spoke about as needing to happen to bring equality still do not seem to have happened. No doubt there have been some improvements here and there, and of course a man of colour became President. But so much is still to be done. A sobering book to read and contemplate.

And I should add of course that there is much still to be done in Australia also to bring about real equality of opportunity, of education, of health and housing for our first nations. Until we can treat all people with the respect due to them, we shall never close that gap between those who have and those who do not.

[1stmichaelmyers]

ผมไม่ได้เห็นด้วยกับคิงไปเสียทุกเรื่อง แต่ก็ยอมรับว่าเขาใช้คำพูดได้อย่างคมคาย เมื่อย้อนมองประวัติศาสตร์การค้าทาสในอเมริกาเมื่อ 400 ปีก่อน เรื่อยมาจนถึงการเลิกทาสในสมัยลินคอล์น กฎหมายจิมโครว์ กรณีโรซา พาร์กส์ ในบริบทเช่นนั้นการกระทำของคิงเป็นสิ่งที่กล้าหาญมากๆ

เรื่องราวของเขาจะคอยเตือนใจผมว่า
ตัวชี้วัดความเที่ยงตรงของมนุษย์คนหนึ่ง
ไม่ได้อยู่ที่คำประกาศจุดยืนของเขาที่แสดงออกมาให้ห้วงเวลาที่สะดวกสบายและปลอดภัย
แต่วัดได้จากจุดยืนที่เขายืนหยัดในช่วงเวลาที่ท้าทายและถูกทำให้ต้องเผชิญความอื้อฉาว

ขอยกประโยคที่ชอบมาก็แล้วกัน
"ผู้ที่ไร้ซึ่งพลังแห่งการให้อภัยย่อมขาดพลังการให้ซึ่งความรัก"

[Christian]

I needed this book today to remind me that just as it is true today, it was true 60 years ago…. Violence and hate are the only enemy. It was comforting to hear such a magnanimous figure as Dr. King proclaim remedies to the same ills that we face today. I feel broken by the last two days, and could feel abject discouragement by the fact that we haven’t made more progress on rooting out hate and violence in our society. But, there is something so beautiful in the perpetual hope of change and redemption. I know that one day it will come!

[Sahar Gulzar]

Reading this tiny anthology makes one realize how MLK was able to move the masses to action... He very poignantly merges religious zeal with rational arguments, while taking inspiration from fields such as philosophy, history, psychology, anthropology and the affairs of the current age to bring light to the issues of his community... Indeed, many of his statements can still be used by underprivileged sections of society to light the spark...

[Sarah]

Two sermons and four essays - the sermons I found very helpful and the essays less so. I appreciated seeing how Jesus comments about being "wise as serpents and harmless as doves" led MKL Jr to espouse nonviolent direct action. He felt that the command to love one's enemies was vital, and nonviolent direct action could lead to the end of segregation while still allowing people to become unified at the end, instead of divided.

[Keegan Hughes]

A stirring read in these trying times. So many ideas stand out today just as strongly as they did when they were first penned. A call for non-violence, for understanding. A cry to put hatred aside and use love to turn enemies into allies. A look into a change-fuelled time in history that illuminates how much hasn’t changed. Made me think about Christianity in ways I have not before.

[Ally Bennett]

I needed this to get through something for a season. Some fantastic learning and challenging content (in a good way) It is focused on a particular period of history and written quite academically so takes some concentration.

[CyberGrapeUK]

A book more activists need to read nowadays. Martin Luther King Jr. informs of a non-violence addition to legal system-based rebellion approaches that goes a lot further and more powerfully than revenge ever could.

[Jasmine]

Very thought provoking. The first 2 chapters prompted me to consider my own experience, whilst the rest prompted me to reflect on social justice and my stance towards it.

[Niamh Lusson]

3 stars

[Luci]

Some of the most cleverly written words I’ve ever read. Trying to find the moment to stop underlining a quote was almost impossible.
An essential, crucial, beneficial and actual read.

[Morgan]

Impressive

[Jess Prichard]

Really good commentary on the civil rights movement — nonviolence is the answer.

[Kai]

I feel like MLK contradicts himself a bit at points but nonetheless a good writer and person