1 Motivational Martin Luther King Jr. Quote That Will Inspire You To Stand Up For Others

Thoughtful woman sitting on windowsill in solitude
Photo by Lisa Summer

To stand up for others, you must first stand up for yourself. To represent others, you must first represent yourself. To lift other people up, you must first lift yourself up. Why? Because you cannot give to others what you do not have within you.

Here is what the great Martin Luther King Jr. said about standing up for other people: He said,” I am coming to feel that the people of ill will have used time much more effectively than the people of good will. … We must come to see that human progress never rolls in on wheels of inevitability. It comes through the tireless efforts and persistent work of men willing to be co-workers with God, and without the hard work time itself becomes an ally of the forces of social stagnation.” Change comes when we work together. It is not going to be easy, but “we can do it when we do it together.”

Greatness Is A Transitory Experience

Snow Covered Mountain
Photo by Tove Liu

“Greatness is a transitory experience. It is never persistent. … The person who experiences greatness must have a feeling for the myth he is in. He must reflect what is projected upon him…. Without this quality, even occasional greatness will destroy a man.”- Frank Herbert

Greatness is not permanent. Nothing is permanent in life. Everything is changing. You can enjoy greatness if you do not attach yourself to it. We find it difficult to let things go because we are so attached to it. We love our old things. We like to keep them. But to really enjoy what we have, we must detach ourselves from our things. Things are things. They are not human beings. Let them go.

They are not human beings. Greatness is good, but it can isolate you. It can isolate you if you don’t know how to use it to your advantage. The best way to remain great is to forget about greatness. Do not be trapped by your greatness. Do not let your greatness control your life. Do not let your greatness destroy your life. Frank Herbert said, “The power to destroy a thing is the absolute control over it.” Even if you think you are not a great person, you are a great person. Think about who you are? Think about who created you?