Monday, January 19, 2009

MLK, Jr. Day 2009


These are Martin Luther King, Jr. quotes culled from the Internet, if you find an inaccuracy here, please let me know:


"A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.

A nation or civilization that continues to produce soft-minded men purchases its own spiritual death on the installment plan.

A nation that continues year after year to spend more money on military defense than on programs of social uplift is approaching spiritual doom.

Almost always, the creative dedicated minority has made the world better.

At the center of non-violence stands the principle of love.

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.

Have we not come to such an impasse in the modern world that we must love our enemies - or else? The chain reaction of evil - hate begetting hate, wars producing more wars - must be broken, or else we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.

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

I submit to you that if a man hasn't discovered something that he will die for, he isn't fit to live.

Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere

Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?'

Nonviolence means avoiding not only external physical violence but also internal violence of spirit. You not only refuse to shoot a man, but you refuse to hate him.

Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.

The hope of a secure and livable world lies with disciplined nonconformists who are dedicated to justice, peace and brotherhood."

-Martin Luther King, Jr.

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