Martin Luther King, Jr. is fondly remembered today for the work that he led and participated in that forever changed the direction of this country. While we are familiar with many of Dr. King’s famous quotations that invigorated a movement, there are many others that rarely receive the sound bite treatment. Below are some of his quotations that have helped me with my work to become a better person.
“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”
“A genuine leader is not a searcher for consensus but a molder of consensus.”
“Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.”
“The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically. Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.”
“We must accept finite disappointment, but never lose infinite hope.”
“Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?’”
“The time is always right to do what is right.”
“Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
“The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.”
And my favorite:
“Human salvation lies in the hands of the creatively maladjusted.”
Which of Dr. King’s words have moved you to become a better person?
“Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.”
–Martin Luther King, Jr.
–JW