Slaves do not always welcome their deliverers. They become accustomed to being slaves. They would rather gear those ills they have
Interpretation
People often resist change even if it means escaping suffering.
This quote by Martin Luther King, Jr. highlights the complex nature of freedom and the human tendency to cling to familiarity, even when it is painful. It suggests that individuals can become so accustomed to their circumstances, even oppressive ones, that they may struggle to accept help or change, preferring the known struggles over the uncertainty of freedom.
In practice
This quote can be used in a speech about the importance of recognizing and addressing oppression.
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.
Music is the best consolation for a despaired man
We must meet the forces of hate with the power of love.
We may have all come on different ships, but we're in the same boat now.
Israel... is one of the great outpost of democracy in the world
One of the greatest casualties of the war in Vietnam is the Great Society... shot down on the battlefield of Vietnam.
When I was 41, I found a lump the size of a grape in my right breast. I ended up bald, sick and exhausted from surgeries, chemo and radiation treatments. Ah, but I got to live.
It is something that is called MDS. It is a rare blood disorder that affects the bone marrow. I'm going to beat this. My doctors say it and my faith says it.
Nobody wants to be on food stamps, but when my family lost everything, we were grateful for it. I was grateful the program was there so I could concentrate on my schoolwork and not on my empty belly. We were grateful that we had the support we needed to roll up our sleeves and rebuild our lives.
If I could hear Christ praying for me in the next room, I would not fear a million enemies.
The next time you encounter fear, consider yourself lucky. This is where the courage comes in. Usually we think that brave people have no fear. The truth is that they are intimate with fear. When I was first married, my husband said I was one of the bravest people he knew. When I asked him why, he said because I was a complete coward but went ahead and did things anyhow.
In the face of pain there are no heroes.
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