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Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals.
Martin Luther King, Jr.
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Interpretation

What this quote means

Human progress requires active effort and sacrifice, not just passive expectation.

This quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. emphasizes that achieving justice and progress is not a given; it requires the commitment and hard work of individuals who are dedicated to the cause. It highlights the importance of personal sacrifice and the collective struggle necessary to bring about meaningful change in society.

Themes

ProgressJusticeSacrificeStruggleCommitment

In practice

Example use cases

During a motivational speech about social change.

More from Martin Luther King, Jr.

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.
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Music is the best consolation for a despaired man
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We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.
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We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
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Israel... is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world
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One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
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