The proof that one truly believes is in action.
Interpretation
True belief is demonstrated through actions, not just words.
This quote by Bayard Rustin emphasizes that genuine belief and conviction are validated through our actions rather than mere expressions. It suggests that to truly believe in something, one must actively engage and demonstrate that belief through their behavior and choices, highlighting the importance of integrity and authenticity in our commitments.
In practice
In a motivational speech about dedication to social causes.
Twenty-five, 30 years ago, the barometer of human rights in the United States were black people. That is no longer true. The barometer for judging the character of people in regard to human rights is now those who consider themselves gay, homosexual, lesbian.
God does not require us to achieve any of the good tasks that humanity must pursue. What God requires of us is that we not stop trying.
If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
If we desire a society of peace, then we cannot achieve such a society through violence. If we desire a society without discrimination, then we must not discriminate against anyone in the process of building this society. If we desire a society that is democratic, then democracy must become a means as well as an end.
My activism did not spring from being black...The racial injustice that was present in this country during my youth was a challenge to my belief in the oneness of the human family.
I am an opponent of war and of war preparations and an opponent of universal military training and conscription; but entirely apart from that issue, I hold that segregation in any part of the body politic is an act of slavery and an act of war.
The best way to observe a fish is to become a fish.
Manic depression's touching my soul. I know what I want, but I just don't know how to go about getting it.
Birds make great sky-circles of their freedom. How do they learn it? They fall and falling, they're given wings.
Freedom from effort in the present merely means that there has been effort stored up in the past.
It is not inspiration; it is expiration.
There is a deeper pleasure in following truth to the scaffold or the cross, than in joining the multitudinous retinue, and mingling our shouts with theirs, when victorious error celebrates its triumphs.
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