In Honor of the Dreamer

It's Martin Luther King, Jr., Day.

Today we honor a man who spent his life selflessly, doing his very best to end justice to feed the hungry, to clothe the naked, to visit those in prison. A pastor, a father, a leader, an inspiration.

I've been loving all the tweets and facebooks posts about him. Then I remembered that a few years ago at the Borders in the Harbor, I picked up a couple of those coffee table books (I'm obsessed) of leaders that are full of quotes. Alongside Mahatma Gandhi, Mother Teresa and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, was MLK, Jr. At $2.50 a piece I couldn't resist.

The cover has a black-and-white picture of him and the word "DREAM" across the front.

I decided to post some of my favorite pieces from these pages.

"Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a permanent attitude."

"The self cannot be self without other selves."

"Hate begets hate; violence begets violence."

"There is within human nature an amazing potential for goodness."

"It may well be that the greatest tragedy of this period of social transition is not the glaring noisiness of the so-called bad people, but the appalling silence of the so-called good people."

"The important thing about a man is not the color of his skin or the texture of his hair, but the texture and quality of his soul."

"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."

"It is hardly a moral act to encourage others patiently to accept injustice which he himself does not endure."

"Somehow we must be able to stand up before our most bitter opponents and say: 'We shall match your capacity to inflict suffering by our capacity to endure suffering. We will meet your physical force with soul force. Do to us what you will and we will still love you... But be assured that we'll wear you down by our capacity to suffer, and one day we will win our freedom. We will not only win freedom for ourselves; we will so appeal to your heart and conscience that we will win you in the process, and our victory will be a double victory."

"We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love."

"Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into a friend."

"There is a maxim in the law - justice too long delayed is justice denied."

"Hatred and bitterness can never cure the disease of fear; only love can do that. Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it."

"We must all learn to live together as brothers. Or we will all perish together as fools."


The world is better because of the love of this man. We all owe him gratitude, though I doubt he would be one to accept.

Thank you, Dr. King, for your humility, endurance, peacefulness, graciousness, and your love.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

What's your favorite quote by Dr. King?