Tuesday, January 15, 2008

Remembering MLK

Today is the actual birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr. One of my favorite quotes by Dr. King is as follows:

"Cowardice asks the question, 'Is it safe?' Expediency asks the question, 'Is it politic?' Vanity asks the question, 'Is it popular?' But, conscience asks the question, 'Is it right?' And there comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but one must take it because one's conscience tells one that it is right."

That's a powerful quote. How much better would the country, indeed the world, be if all sought to do the right thing.

1 comment:

Ginger Hunter said...

I love it, I also believe if Dr. King were here today he would add that Laziness asks, 'Is it easy?’ I believe that apathy, especially among our generation, is a more prevalent sin than cowardice.

It is also of note that no matter what your spiritual outlook, we can all agree that one knows intuitively what is "right". What is right crosses the bounds of religion, politics and social class. Just another example of how Dr. King's words kindled something in each of us beyond the limits of our own experience, something universal. By doing so, even today, his words have the power to unite.