Words are powerful. What you say at any moment can be used to inspire someone days, weeks, or even years later. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. is an example of this. He was a courageous black man that stood up for the rights and equality of all people. His words impacted our history, and continues to impact our society today.  The past year has been a year where we have shown our hearts as a country on where we stand with racial equality. In light of these events, reflect on these quotes, thoughts from a great thought leader. As you reflect on them, try to produce one action item, one mere behavior that you can change, that will help mold our society, so that we can start to live out the dream that Dr. King once believed in.

1. “Seeing is not always believing.”
2. “Life’s most persistent and urgent question is, ‘What are you doing for others?”
3. “Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.”
4. “We are not makers of history. We are made by history.”
5. “Faith is taking the first step even when you don’t see the whole staircase.”
6. “Pity may represent little more than the impersonal concern which prompts the mailing of a check, but true sympathy is the personal concern which demands the giving of one’s soul.”
7. “The time is always right to do what is right.”
8. “I believe that unarmed truth and unconditional love will have the final word in reality. This is why right, temporarily defeated, is stronger than evil triumphant.”
9. “If a man has not discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.”
10. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.”

Did you like these quotes? Check out more Dr. King quotes here. Enjoy this day of reflection!

Photo credit: Andrew McFarlane via Flickr