Light Changes Darkness, Love Changes Hate - Essay Example

Dr. Rawda Hildegard Awwad ENGL 101-07 05/03 Light Changes Darkness, Love Changes Hate “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” by Martin Luther King JR. The definition of darkness varies depending on the understanding and perception. Thus, darkness means a dark world with no way out, and a world full of problems and injustice. Light means a world full of justice and happiness. Hate is a feeling of dislike or the lack of appreciation of other people in the society.

Hate can develop when a person has negative perception, or simply lacks the feeling of warmth towards others. Love on the other hand is a feeling, which is directly the opposite of hate. Love is a feeling of joy and happiness normally extended to the people one cares for, or for those who are appreciated. People should spread out love and not hate, and stand up to darkness with light for several reasons, which include personal growth and development. What is the relationship between darkness and light?

The quote “Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that”. It means that darkness can’t change darkness, whereas light can eliminate darkness. Darkness is the challenges a person faces in his/her life. These problems can be murder, sins, rape, injustice, and insults. In addition, darkness is the lack of strength and passion to go through the day. However, light is the opposite of darkness. Light is the spirit, which is given by God in every single person to illuminate his soul to goodness and chastity.

Light can be defined as the solutions of problems. Light represents the many breakthroughs evident in life with such occurrences as getting healed from diseases, getting a promotion at work, getting a pay rise, and even living in peace with other people being examples of light. In the meantime light is considered as the fair- justice. For example, if a person murdered, then the situation cannot be fixed by murdering suspect, but you can solve it using the law and that is the justice of life. Light is the way to live an easy and happy life.

For example, if someone insults a person he/she can just smile and walk away, then that someone will be ashamed of him/herself and asks for his/her forgiveness. That is the beauty of following the quote, and the general idea is simply having hope for the future and ensuring that justice prevails. The quote “hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that” is a statement which points out to the importance of living peacefully with other people in the society, ensuring that one respects others and directly avoids confrontations, and ensuring that one does not revert to revenge.

Love and tolerance are two important factors that are associated with peace and solidarity within the society. Ensuring that one understands other people in the society is a good way of ensuring that love and patience prevail with the outcome of being a society where people look up to each other as opposed to looking down on each other. Where there is love, then it is possible to achieve satisfaction. For example, if a person hates you, then you should not hate him because it does not solve anything.

However, tolerance and love is the greatest solution to replace hate and ignorance. Consequently, these statements have been vital in my life on several occasions. At one point, I was the victim of hate. Out of ignorance, I also hated my adversary. However, I later learnt that hate does not solve any problems, rather it exacerbates the problems. Following this realization, I opted to love my adversary, this transformed our lives, and consequently we became friends and even forgave each other as we learnt that the hate was superficial.

In relation to darkness, I once had a friend who was addicted to drugs. He was always in problems and this depicted the darkness he had to go through. At one time, I chose to advise him against using drugs and he agreed to undergo rehabilitation. This helped him overcome his addiction leading him towards the morality and righteousness. Based on my experiences, I have come to the realization that hate and darkness simply exaggerate problems and this has guided me to encourage people to love while further striving to remain in the light in all their endeavors.

Overall, it is imperative that we all seek to spread love and not hate. By doing this, we will effectively eliminate all the darkness in life and replace it with light and love. In conclusion, good behavior can solve bad situations; bad incidences always happen for a reason and they improve of vindicate the moral aspects of life. Light can wipe out darkness, and love can cancel hate. People should spread out love and not hate, and stand up to darkness with light. Love and light are two concepts that have a lot in common in that where there is light, and then there is hope just as is the case where there is love.

Where there is love, then one can succeed in everything they do with the opposite being the same where hate suffices. Life is like a roller coaster with ups and downs, every day we face new problems in life this does not mean we give up and lose hope, it’s a chance to learn from our mistakes and improve our life experiences. This quote has persuaded me to solve my problems by using logic and reason, and that is the way of light.