I know that love is ultimately the only answer to mankind's problems. And I'm going to talk about it everywhere I go. I know it isn't popular to talk about it in some circles today. I'm not talking about emotional bosh when I talk about love, I'm talking about a strong, demanding love. And I have seen too much hate. I've seen too much hate on the faces of sheriffs in the South. I've seen hate on the faces of too many Klansmen and too many White Citizens Councilors in the South to want to hate myself, because every time I see it, I know that it does something to their faces and their personalities and I say to myself that hate is too great a burden to bear. I have decided to love. If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love. And the beautiful thing is that we are moving against wrong when we do it, because John was right, God is love. He who hates does not know God, but he who has love has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.
Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:Where Do We Go From Here? (1967)
Address to the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (1967-08-16)
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Dr. King's importance lies in his challenge to expand our moral imagination. Through his example and courage, we have to ask ourselves, "How have I become greater in my capacity to love and to accept even those whom I hate as a child of God, my brother or sister, and an inheritor of the Kingdom?"
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Dr. King's importance lies in his challenge to expand our moral imagination. Through his example and courage, we have to ask ourselves, "How have I become greater in my capacity to love and to accept even those whom I hate as a child of God, my brother or sister, and an inheritor of the Kingdom?"
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2 comments:
Same birth date as Muhammad Ali. Astounding.
Happy birthday, Sir.
Two warriors! Though I must confess in my youth, Muhammad Ali was my favorite.
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