Martin Luther King, Jr. must have been an amazing individual to meet. He was essentially a small town Baptist preacher until he was literally bombed into the Civil Rights Movement in 1955. For the next 13 years he was at the forefront of that movement which forever changed America, and the world.
Much of our society today revolves around the concepts and issues of Civil Rights and Civil Liberties. It always amazes me that from virtually every speech he ever gave there is one or more exceptional "pearls" or wisdom. He obviously had something very specific to say in each of his speeches, and he said it. Succinctly.
Here are a some new (to me) quotes from the esteemed Dr. King:
"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." Strength to Love, 1963
“If a man is called to be a street sweeper, he should sweep streets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composed music, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, here lived a great street sweeper who did his job well.”
"Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment: Life's most persistent and urgent question is, What are you doing for others?"
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