The spirit of Lincoln still lives; that spirit born of the teachings of the Nazarene, who promised mercy to the merciful, who lifted the lowly, strengthened the weak, ate with publicans, and made the captives free. In the light of this divine example, the doctrines of demagogues shiver in their chaff.
Interpretation
This quote emphasizes the enduring influence of Lincoln's compassionate spirit, rooted in the teachings of Jesus, in contrast to the empty rhetoric of demagogues.
Martin Luther King, Jr. reflects on the lasting legacy of Abraham Lincoln, suggesting that Lincoln's guiding principles of mercy and compassion, derived from the teachings of Jesus, are far more powerful and significant than the shallow doctrines propagated by demagogues. This quote highlights the importance of genuine kindness and moral leadership over empty political rhetoric, advocating for a society that embraces these values.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of compassion in leadership.
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.
When you're screwing up and nobody says anything to you anymore, that means they've given up on you.
A true genius admits that he/she knows nothing.
Suppose . . . burglars had made entry into this . . . [library]. Picture them seated here on this floor, pouring the light of their dark-lanterns over some books they found, and thus absorbing moral truths and getting moral uplift. The whole course of their lives would have been changed. As it was, they kept straight on in their immoral way and were sent to jail. For all I know, they may next be sent to Congress.
The pleasures of the palate deal with us like Egyptian thieves who strangle those whom they embrace.
There are two good rules which ought to be written on every heart - never to believe anything bad about anybody unless you positively know it to be true; never to tell even that unless you feel that it is absolutely necessary, and that God is listening.
My Brain is the key that sets me free.
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