There is nothing more dangerous than to build a society with a large segment of people in that society who feel that they have no stake in it; who feel that that have nothing to lose. People who have stake in their society, protect that society, but when they don't have it, they unconsciously want to destroy it.
Interpretation
This quote highlights the risks of societal disconnect and disenfranchisement.
Martin Luther King, Jr. emphasizes the importance of social inclusion and engagement, suggesting that when individuals feel alienated and lack a sense of ownership or responsibility towards their society, they may resort to destructive behaviors rather than protective ones. This underscores the need for creating a community where everyone feels valued and invested in the collective well-being.
In practice
During a lecture on social equity, this quote can be used to highlight the importance of inclusive policies.
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.
A man who has not passed through the inferno of his passions has never overcome them. As far as we can discern, the sole purpose of human existence is to kindle a light in the darkness of mere being. Everything that irritates us about others can lead us to an understanding of ourselves.
I'm not a walking extra in a Chekhov play; I'm no Slavic gloom or Irish gloom.
The failures of the press have contributed immensely to the emergence of a talk-show nation, in which public discourse is reduced to ranting and raving and posturing. We now have a mainstream press whose news agenda is increasingly influenced by this netherworld.
To call someone 'anti-American', indeed, to be anti-American, is not just racist, it's a failure of the imagination.
What we celebrate at Christmas is not so much the birth of a baby, but the incarnation of God Himself
I find it very difficult to think of mistakes; not that I don't make any but because I was brought up to look only at the good things in life ... As for what lost the most money, probably Virgin Cola. It is still No 1 in Bangladesh though.
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