We must build dikes of courage to hold back the flood of fear. That old law about "an eye for an eye" leaves everybody blind... The time is always right to do the right thing. Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.
Interpretation
Courage allows us to confront our fears and work towards justice and peace in our lives.
This quote emphasizes the importance of courage in overcoming fear while advocating for justice and righteousness. It suggests that acting with courage and doing the right thing are crucial in achieving peace, rather than resorting to retaliation or violence, which only perpetuates blindness and suffering. King illustrates that peace should be seen as an integral part of the journey towards achieving a just society.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech advocating for social justice to inspire courage in activism.
This business of burning human beings with napalm, of filling our nation's homes with orphans and widows, of injecting poisonous drugs of hate into veins of peoples normally humane, of sending men home from dark and bloody battlefields physically handicapped and psychologically deranged, cannot be reconciled with wisdom, justice and love.
Music is the best consolation for a despaired man
We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.
We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
Israel... is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world
One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
I don't care if you're Christian, you're Muslim, you're gay, you're straight - I am here to fight for your equality. Because I believe that we are all born equal, but we are not treated equally, and that is why we must fight.
When you look fear in the face, you are able to say to yourself, 'I lived through this horror. I can take the next thing that comes along.'
This is a fight between a free world and a slave world.
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by, From this day to the ending of the world, But we in it shall be remembered- We few, we happy few, we band of brothers; For he to-day that sheds his blood with me Shall be my brother
The greatest hazard in life is to risk NOTHING.
We have proclaimed to the world our determination 'to die freemen, rather than to live slaves.' We have appealed to Heaven for the justice of our cause, and in Heaven we have placed our trust.
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