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.
Violence anywhere hurts everyone, everywhere.
One day the absurdity of the almost universal human belief in the slavery of other animals will be palpable. We shall then have discovered our souls and become worthier of sharing this planet with them.
Nothing in all the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscious stupidity.
I know you are asking today, 'How long will it take?'.... I come to say to you this afternoon, however difficult the moment,
however frustrating the hour, it will not be long, because truth crushed to
earth will rise again. How long? Not long, because no lie can live forever. How long? Not long, because you shall reap what you sow.... How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it
bends toward justice.
- Dr. Martin Luther King, March 25, 1965, on the steps of the Alabama
State Capitol
If the church does not recapture its prophetic zeal, it will become an
irrelevant social club without moral or spiritual authority. If the church
does not participate actively in the struggle for peace and for economic and
racial justice, it will forfeit the loyalty of millions and cause men
everywhere to say that it has atrophied its will. But if the church will
free itself from the shackles of a deadening status quo, and, recovering its
great historic mission, will speak and act fearlessly and insistently in
terms of justice and peace, it will enkindle the imagination of mankind and
fire the souls of men, imbuing them with a glowing and ardent love for
truth, justice, and peace. Men far and near will know the church as a great
fellowship of love that provides light and bread for lonely travelers at
midnight.
- Martin Luther King, Jr. from his sermon, “A Knock at Midnight.
Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.
Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.