As we prepare to celebrate this national holiday, honoring Dr. Martin L. King, Jr., remember that it is a day of service — not a day off work or out of school.
King is known for his many deeds and advocacy but he did not do it alone.
To honor his work, let’s recite his many quotes and make a commitment to use them to help guide our lives through 2020. Here are a few that I plan to keep by my bedside as I attempt to be the servant that he was:
“In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends.”
“Only in the darkness, can you see the stars.”
“If you can’t fly then run, if you can’t run then walk, if you can’t walk then crawl, but whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
“Darkness cannot drive out darkness: Only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: Only love can do that.”
“That old law about ‘an eye for an eye’ leaves everybody blind. The time is always right to do the right thing.”
“Intelligence plus character — that is the goal of true education.”
“We must come to see that the end we seek is a society at peace with itself, a society that can live with its conscience.”
“I have decided to stick to love … Hate is too great a burden to bear.”
“Everybody can be great … because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have a college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.”
“Forgiveness is not an occasional act; it is a constant attitude.”
“Those who are not looking for happiness are the most likely to find it, because those who are searching forget that the surest way to be happy is to seek happiness for others.”
“Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.”
“We must accept finite disappointment but never lose infinite hope.”
“People fail to get along because they fear each other; they fear each other because they don’t know each other; they don’t know each other because they have not communicated with each other.”
“We must develop and maintain the capacity to forgive. He who is devoid of the power to forgive is devoid of the power to love. There is some good in the worst of us and some evil in the best of us. When we discover this, we are less prone to hate our enemies.”
The quote by Dr. King listed below is the one that I hope every student will remember and adopt as a motto throughout school life.
“No person has the right to rain on your dreams.”
Margaret Hill is a member of the San Bernardino City Unified School District school board.