We must either learn to live together as brothers, or we are going to die together as fools.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Anyone who has read my blogs knows I love quotations. I enjoy reading them online as I write my blogs. I enjoy them when they are posted on Facebook by others. This week one of my Facebook friends has been sharing quotes by Martin Luther King, Jr. Several have really touched me, so today I went online and looked up some more. Often quotations can be taken out of context, if they are not read with the original work or setting in mind. Dr. King's quotations have a universality about them that require no stage setting. He spoke from his heart, and from a love which even today seems boundless.
Because it is close to his birthday, which has become a national holiday, I thought I would share a few more MLK quotations in hopes they inspire you as they have me. He sets the bar high for all of us to live with integrity, honesty, service, hope and above all love.
One of the great tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying. A persistent schizophrenia leaves so many of us tragically divided against ourselves. On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly practice the very antithesis of these principles. How often are our lives characterized by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anemia of deeds! We talk eloquently about our commitment to the principles of Christianity, and yet our lives are saturated with the practices of paganism. We proclaim our devotion to democracy, but we sadly practice the very opposite of the democratic creed. We talk passionately about peace, and at the same time we assiduously prepare for war. We make our fervent pleas for the high road of justice, and then we tread unflinchingly the low road of injustice. This strange dichotomy, this agonizing gulf between the ought and the is, represents the tragic theme of man's earthly pilgrimage.
~Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love
When we look at modern man, we have to face the fact...that modern man suffers from a kind of poverty of the spirit, which stands in glaring contrast to his scientific and technological abundance; We've learned to fly the air like birds, we've learned to swim the seas like fish, and yet we haven't learned to walk the Earth as brothers and sisters...
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
I'm concerned about a better world. I'm concerned about justice; I'm concerned about brotherhood; I'm concerned about truth. And when one is concerned about that, he can never advocate violence. For through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can't murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can't establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can't murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
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. Hate multiplies hate, violence multiplies violence, and toughness multiplies toughness in a descending spiral of destruction. So when Jesus says “Love your enemies,” he is setting forth a profound and ultimately inescapable admonition. 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 wars–must be broken, or we shall be plunged into the dark abyss of annihilation.
~Martin Luther King, Jr., Strength to Love
Everybody can be great...because anybody can serve
~Martin Luther King, Jr.
Barb,
ReplyDeletethis isa brethtaking post, no other comment is necessary!
Patty