The problem that we face is that the ghetto is a domestic colony that’s constantly drained without being replenished. And you are always telling us to lift ourselves by our own bootstraps, and yet we are being robbed every day. Put something back in the ghetto!
In order to answer the question “Where do we go from here?”—which is our theme—we must first honestly recognize where we are now.
As long as the mind is enslaved, the body can never be free.
A problem of power: a confrontation between the forces of power demanding change and the forces of power dedicated to the preserving of the status quo. Now, power—properly understood—is nothing but the ability to achieve purpose. It is the strength required to bring about social, political, and economic change.
One of the great problems of history is that the concepts of love and power have usually been contrasted as opposites—polar opposites—so that love is identified with a resignation of power, and power with a denial of love.
Now, we got to get this thing right! What is needed is a realization that power without love is reckless and abusive, and that love without power is sentimental and anemic.
We must develop progress—or rather, a program (and I can’t stay on this long)—that will drive the nation to a guaranteed annual income.
We need to be concerned that the potential of the individual is not wasted.
We are likely to find that the problem of housing, education—instead of preceding the elimination of poverty—will themselves be affected if poverty is first abolished.
The dignity of the individual will flourish when the decisions concerning his life are in his own hands, when he has the assurance that his income is stable and certain, and when he knows that he has the means to seek self-improvement. Personal conflicts between husband, wife, and children will diminish when the unjust measurement of human worth on a scale of dollars is eliminated.
Through violence you may murder a murderer, but you can’t murder murder. Through violence you may murder a liar, but you can’t establish truth. Through violence you may murder a hater, but you can’t murder hate through violence. Darkness cannot put out darkness; only light can do that!
If you are seeking the highest good, I think you can find it through love.
He who hates does not know God, but he who loves has the key that unlocks the door to the meaning of ultimate reality.
A man may be self-centered in his self-denial and self-righteous in his self-sacrifice. His generosity may feed his ego, and his piety may feed his pride. So without love, benevolence becomes egotism, and martyrdom becomes spiritual pride.
The movement must address itself to the question of restructuring the whole of American society. There are forty million poor people here, and one day we must ask the question, “Why are there forty million poor people in America?” And when you begin to ask that question, you’re raising a question about the economic system, about a broader distribution of wealth. When you ask that question, you begin to question the capitalistic economy. And I’m simply saying that, more and more, we’ve got to begin to ask questions about the whole society. We are called upon to help the discouraged beggars in life’s marketplace. But one day we must come to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring. It means that questions must be raised.
What I’m saying to you this morning is: communism forgets that life is individual. Capitalism forgets that life is social. And the kingdom of brotherhood is found neither in the thesis of communism nor the antithesis of capitalism, but in a higher synthesis!
When our days become dreary with low-hovering clouds of despair, and when our nights become darker than a thousand midnights, let us remember that there is a creative force in this universe working to pull down the gigantic mountains of evil, a power that is able to make a way out of no way and transform dark yesterdays into bright tomorrows!
