A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
Malcolm XRead
One of the first things I think young people, especially nowadays, should learn is how to see for yourself and listen for yourself and think for yourself.
Interpretation
Young people should develop the ability to form their own opinions and thoughts.
Malcolm X emphasizes the importance of independent thinking for young individuals. In a world filled with information and opinions, he suggests that it is crucial for the youth to cultivate their own perspectives through observation and listening rather than passively accepting what is presented to them. This call for self-reliance in thought encourages critical thinking skills which are vital for personal development and informed decision-making.
In practice
In a graduation speech to inspire students to make their own choices.
A man who stands for nothing will fall for anything.
I have more respect for a man who lets me know where he stands, even if he's wrong, than the one who comes up like an angel and is nothing but a devil.
When you want a nation, that's called nationalism... Black nationalism. A revolutionary is a Black nationalist. He wants a nation.
So over you is the greatest enemy a man can have β and that is fear. I know some of you are afraid to listen to the truth β you have been raised on fear and lies. But I am going to preach to you the truth until you are free of that fear...
Usually when people are sad, they don't do anything. They just cry over their condition. But when they get angry, they bring about a change.
Time is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. Truth is on the side of the oppressed today, it's against the oppressor. You don't need anything else.
Instead of being presented with stereotypes by age, sex, color, class, or religion, children must have the opportunity to learn that within each range, some people are loathsome and some are delightful.
Research shows that whether you are low-income or not, mindset is a bigger predictor of success than academic skills, and how students gain great academic skills and persevere in the face of challenges.
Teachers who offer you the ultimate answers do not possess the ultimate answers, for if they did, they would know that the ultimate answers cannot be given, they can only be received.
I started teaching when I was in my 20s because Lee Strasberg asked me to, and he didn't do that with a lot of people.
I cannot imagine the type of sinister fiend who would be against the library. A library essentially says, 'Look, here is some free information that will enrich your life. Read it on your own time. I trust that you will bring it back when you are finished.' It might be the most civilized, forward-thinking institution in America. Perhaps the only one, in fact.
International educational exchange is the most significant current project designed to continue the process of humanizing mankind to the point, we would hope, that men can learn to live in peace-eventually even to cooperate in constructive activities rather than compete in a mindless contest of mutual destruction....We must try to expand the boundaries of human wisdom, empathy and perception, and there is no way of doing that except through education.
Subscribe for the occasional hand-picked quote. No noise.