Lesson 2: Ethical Heroes from the East and West

What is a hero?

"mortal who had done something so far beyond the normal scope of human experience that he left an immortal memory behind him when he died, and thus received worship like that due the gods... hero was to expand people's sense of what was possible for a human being."

How MLK wrote "I Have A Dream"

1667 words, 17 minutes. rhetorical devices. the march of Washington. message of civil rights. king words imprinted an image of what black americans were fighting for. allusion to gettysburg address. fight for civil rights. civil rights framed as a chapter in American mythology. alliteration, musicality, like a tune to help keep in mind. musical feature. anaphora uses more repetition in the beginning in a speech that is effective. one hundred years later. now is the time. we cannot be satisfied. i have a dream. let freedom ring. let freedom ring. past present future. uses alliteration, anaphora, allusion. urgency of the moment. uses simple language to connect with people. echoes for decades to come.

Gandhi

1869-1948; life near Jain community; personal ethical struggles in book titled The Story of My Experiments with Truth; satyagraha; political impact; influenced by Thoreau and Tolstoy; nominated 5 time for Noble Peace Prize. -Hate the sin, love the sinner. -The good man is the friend of all living things. -Civilization is the encouragement of differences. -No culture can live, if it attempts to be exclusive. -That service is the noblest which is rendered for its own sake. -Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer him with love. -The weak can never forgive. Forgiveness is the attribute of the strong. -The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others. -Service which is rendered without joy helps neither the servant nor the served.

Einstein

1879-1955; fascinating biography details; Time Magazine in 1999 named Einstein the Person of the 20th Century; as pacifist and follower of Gandhi (speaks of him in audio recording) he faced ethical dilemmas in WWII and regrets · The Russell-Einstein document to stop nuclear proliferation Sam Harris statement about Einstein: "Einstein endorses a strong conception of moral truth, founded on axioms, and focused on the well-being of humanity. ... He seems to consider ethical truth to be on all fours with the truths of mathematics and the rest of science."

Martin Luther King

1929-1968; Baptist minister; Civil Rights leader and fought against segregation; 1963 speech at March in Washington and "I Have a Dream Speech"; 1964 Nobel Peace Prize; opposed Vietnam War; Rosa Park bus incident and Montgomery Bus Boycott for 13 months to follow and Supreme Court ruling that segregation was unconstitutional; assassinated by James Earl Ray; MLK day established in 1986

Dalai Lama

1935 to present; 2015 July 5th talk in Anaheim at Honda Center; 14th Dalai Lama; 1959 flees Tibet for India; exile until today; pro science; happiness and book the Art of Happiness; environmentalism, religious harmony, world peace, compassion are central tenets; 1989 Nobel Peace Prize · Dalai Lama Quotes: -Love and compassion are necessities, not luxuries. Without them, humanity cannot survive. -If you want others to be happy, practice compassion. If you want to be happy, practice compassion.

MLK Mini Bio

Born in 1929, Atlanta Georgia. Graduated 15 in high school through segregation. Moorehouse--> Boston. Rosa Parks lit a fire in Civil Rights movement. King experience gave him the credentials to become a leader. courts desegregated buses. king was now the national leader. willing to give their lives for freedom. traveled 6 million miles, wrote 5 books, etc. I Have A Dream Speech. King became Man's Time of Year, 1963. Nobel Peace Prize youngest winner.

MLK and Gandhi

Environment plays a vital role in shaping and evolving a person to a great leader. Gandhi and Martin Luther King Jr are the example of those great leaders who made their way under a very unfavorable conditions and circumstances. Mahatma Gandhi was the greatest political and spiritual leader of Bharat during the Indian freedom movement. He was the pioneer of satyagraha-resistance to Caesarism through mass civil disobedience, a doctrine unwaveringly established upon ahimsa or absolute nonviolence-which guided India to independence and revolutionized movements for civil rights and freedom across the world. Gandhi is known in India as the Father of the Nation; his birthday, 2 Oct, is remembered there as Gandhi Jayanti, a national holiday, and world wide as the International Day of Non-Violence. Martin Luther King Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and outstanding leader in the Afro-American civil rights campaign. His principal bequest was to ensure advancement on civil rights in the America, and he has become a human rights icon. King led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and assisted found the southerly Christian Leadership Conference in 1957, serving as its 1st chairman Method of Nonviolence Initially it was Gandhi who was known for his non violence behavior; rather condemn his own party against violence. Gandhi made use of non-cooperation, nonviolent resistance and passive resistance as his "artilleries" in the conflict against Brits. In Indian Punjab, butchery of civilians by British military personnel induced deep trauma to the state, resulting in increased public wrath and acts of ferocity. Mahatma Gandhi criticized both the activities of British Government and the retributory fury of Indians. He authored the declaration extending commiserations to the British victims and excoriating the riots. Though initially his party was against that declaration and but later accept the Gandhi's principal that all ferocity is injurious and could not be rationalized. Inspired by Mahatma Gandhi success with nonviolent activism, Martin Luther traveled to Gandhi place of birth in India in 1959. The trip to India touched King in a profound way, heightening his apprehension of passive resistance and his dedication to America's struggle for civil rights. King said, "Since being in India, I'm more confident than ever before that the technique of passive resistance is the most powerful weapon available to suppressed people in their fight for justice and human self-esteem. Goal Oriented Leaders Mahatma Gandhi wanted self-government for India. King cherished 1st class citizenship for Afro-American. End of Road , 1968, while standing on the balcony of his room in a hotel, King was shot. A man who gave his 13 years to a continuous struggle to get freedom for his people was dead. He struggled till the last moment to get the just rights for his people, rather for all those people who were suppressed by the so called superior class all around the world. On 30th January 1948, Mahatma Gandhi was shot while having his nightly public walk on the roads of New Delhi. The assassin was a Hindu patriot with connections to the extremist Hindu Mahasabha, who held Mahatma Gandhi responsible for de-escalating India by taking a firm stand upon a payment to Pakistan, which according to Gandhi was the right of Pakistan to have their share of money after partition. Similarities and Difference - Both the men were true leaders and led their nation to get high place in a society - Both are the believers of non violent method - Martin Luther King had struggled a lot compare to Gandhi , as latter was struggling against a ruling party in his own country while all the nations was behind him to support him on all issues, where as King was struggling against a Black and white phenomenon which was present all around the world at that time.

Dalai Lama I Have A Dream Speech

His Holiness the Dalai Lama speaks from his residence in Dharamsala, India, about his hope and dream in honor of the 50th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech recorded as part of NBC News' DreamDay coverage on August 28th, 2013. dream within this century the world a happy family. need oneness sense of humanity. though education, through awareness, we can develop a sense of oneness of humanity. the very basis of violence and very basis of war can essential be a place of nonviolence and peace.

Prescription to study Heroes

La Barge asserts that "those of us who are teachers - and all of us are teachers of our own children at least - have a special opportunity to introduce heroes to those we teach. And teaching about heroes really isn't hard; heroic lives have their appeal built in, all we need to do is make an effort to tell the stories. I assure you, the reason those students didn't choose Lincoln and King and Gandhi as heroes was not that they had heard their stories and dismissed them. It is our job to tell the stories. Tell your students what a difference people of courage and nobility and genius have made to the world. Just tell the stories! We should recommit to that purpose. Start by going home tonight and listing your five most important heroes."

Short Intro to MLK

Martin Luther King Jr. was a social activist and Baptist minister who played a key role in the American civil rights movement from the mid-1950s until his assassination in 1968. King sought equality and human rights for African Americans, the economically disadvantaged and all victims of injustice through peaceful protest. He was the driving force behind watershed events such as the Montgomery Bus Boycott and the 1963 March on Washington, which helped bring about such landmark legislation as the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act. King was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1964 and is remembered each year on Martin Luther King Jr. Day, a U.S. federal holiday since 1986. born on 1/15/1929 in Atlanta, Georgia A gifted student, King attended segregated public schools and at the age of 15 was admitted to Morehouse College, the alma mater of both his father and maternal grandfather, where he studied medicine and law. Although he had not intended to follow in his father's footsteps by joining the ministry, he changed his mind under the mentorship of Morehouse's president, Dr. Benjamin Mays, an influential theologian and outspoken advocate for racial equality. After graduating in 1948, King entered Crozer Theological Seminary in Pennsylvania, where he earned a Bachelor of Divinity degree, won a prestigious fellowship and was elected president of his predominantly white senior class. King then enrolled in a graduate program at Boston University, completing his coursework in 1953 and earning a doctorate in systematic theology two years later. While in Boston he met Coretta Scott, a young singer from Alabama who was studying at the New England Conservatory of Music. The couple wed in 1953 and settled in Montgomery, Alabama, where King became pastor of the Dexter Avenue Baptist Church. They had four children: Yolanda Denise King, Martin Luther King III, Dexter Scott King and Bernice Albertine King. The King family had been living in Montgomery for less than a year when the highly segregated city became the epicenter of the burgeoning struggle for civil rights in America, galvanized by the landmark Brown v. Board of Education decision of 1954. On December 1, 1955, Rosa Parks, secretary of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a Montgomery bus and was arrested. Activists coordinated a bus boycott that would continue for 381 days, placing a severe economic strain on the public transit system and downtown business owners. They chose Martin Luther King Jr. as the protest's leader and official spokesman. By the time the Supreme Court ruled segregated seating on public buses unconstitutional in November 1956, King—heavily influenced by Mahatma Gandhi and the activist Bayard Rustin—had entered the national spotlight as an inspirational proponent of organized, nonviolent resistance. King had also become a target for white supremacists, who firebombed his family home that January. Emboldened by the boycott's success, in 1957 he and other civil rights activists—most of them fellow ministers—founded the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), a group committed to achieving full equality for African Americans through nonviolent protest. The SCLC motto was "Not one hair of one head of one person should be harmed." He would remain at the helm of this influential organization until his death. In his role as SCLC president, Martin Luther King Jr. traveled across the country and around the world, giving lectures on nonviolent protest and civil rights as well as meeting with religious figures, activists and political leaders. During a month-long trip to India in 1959, he had the opportunity to meet family members and followers of Gandhi, the man he described in his autobiography as "the guiding light of our technique of nonviolent social change." King also authored several books and articles during this time. In 1960 King and his family moved to Atlanta, his native city, where he joined his father as co-pastor of the Ebenezer Baptist Church. This new position did not stop King and his SCLC colleagues from becoming key players in many of the most significant civil rights battles of the 1960s. Their philosophy of nonviolence was put to a particularly severe test during the Birmingham campaign of 1963, in which activists used a boycott, sit-ins and marches to protest segregation, unfair hiring practices and other injustices in one of America's most racially divided cities. Arrested for his involvement on April 12, King penned the civil rights manifesto known as the "Letter from Birmingham Jail," an eloquent defense of civil disobedience addressed to a group of white clergymen who had criticized his tactics. Later that year, Martin Luther King Jr. worked with a number of civil rights and religious groups to organize the March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a peaceful political rally designed to shed light on the injustices African Americans continued to face across the country. Held on August 28 and attended by some 200,000 to 300,000 participants, the event is widely regarded as a watershed moment in the history of the American civil rights movement and a factor in the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The March on Washington culminated in King's most famous address, known as the "I Have a Dream" speech, a spirited call for peace and equality that many consider a masterpiece of rhetoric. Standing on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial—a monument to the president who a century earlier had brought down the institution of slavery in the United States—he shared his vision of a future in which "this nation will rise up and live out the true meaning of its creed: 'We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal.'" The speech and march cemented King's reputation at home and abroad; later that year he was named "Man of the Year" by TIME magazine and in 1964 became the youngest person ever awarded the Nobel Peace Prize. In the spring of 1965, King's elevated profile drew international attention to the violence that erupted between white segregationists and peaceful demonstrators in Selma, Alabama, where the SCLC and Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) had organized a voter registration campaign. Captured on television, the brutal scene outraged many Americans and inspired supporters from across the country to gather in Alabama and take part in the Selma to Montgomery march led by King and supported by President Lyndon B. Johnson, who sent in federal troops to keep the peace. That August, Congress passed the Voting Rights Act, which guaranteed the right to vote—first awarded by the 15th Amendment—to all African Americans. The events in Selma deepened a growing rift between Martin Luther King Jr. and young radicals who repudiated his nonviolent methods and commitment to working within the established political framework. As more militant black leaders such as Stokely Carmichael rose to prominence, King broadened the scope of his activism to address issues such as the Vietnam War and poverty among Americans of all races. In 1967, King and the SCLC embarked on an ambitious program known as the Poor People's Campaign, which was to include a massive march on the capital. On the evening of April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King was assassinated. He was fatally shot while standing on the balcony of a motel in Memphis, where King had traveled to support a sanitation workers' strike. In the wake of his death, a wave of riots swept major cities across the country, while President Johnson declared a national day of mourning. James Earl Ray, an escaped convict and known racist, pleaded guilty to the murder and was sentenced to 99 years in prison. He later recanted his confession and gained some unlikely advocates, including members of the King family, before his death in 1998. After years of campaigning by activists, members of Congress and Coretta Scott King, among others, in 1983 President Ronald Reagan signed a bill creating a U.S. federal holiday in honor of King. Observed on the third Monday of January, Martin Luther King Day was first celebrated in 1986.

World Religions for World Peace

The principles discussed so far are in accordance with the ethical teachings of all world religions. I maintain that every major religion of the world - Buddhism, Christianity, Confucianism, Hinduism, Islam, Jainism, Judaism, Sikhism, Taoism, Zoroastrianism - has similar ideals of love, the same goal of benefiting humanity through spiritual practice, and the same effect of making their followers into better human beings. All religions teach moral precepts for perfecting the functions of mind, body, and speech. All teach us not to lie or steal or take others' lives, and so on. The common goal of all moral precepts laid down by the great teachers of humanity is unselfishness There are two primary tasks facing religious practitioners who are concerned with world peace. First, we must promote better interfaith understanding so as to create a workable degree of unity among all religions. This may be achieved in part by respecting each other's beliefs and by emphasizing our common concern for human well-being. Second, we must bring about a viable consensus on basic spiritual values that touch every human heart and enhance general human happiness. This means we must emphasize the common denominator of all world religions - humanitarian ideals. Individual Power to Shape Institutions Hatred and fighting cannot bring happiness to anyone, even to the winners of battles. Violence always produces misery and thus is essentially counter-productive. It is, therefore, time for world leaders to learn to transcend the differences of race, culture, and ideology and to regard one another through eyes that see the common human situation. To do so would benefit individuals, communities, nations, and the world at large. More human contact in the form of informal extended meetings, without any agenda, would improve their mutual understanding; they would learn to relate to each other as human beings and could then try to tackle international problems based on this understanding. No two parties, especially those with a history of antagonism, can negotiate fruitfully in an atmosphere of mutual suspicion and hatred. I suggest that world leaders meet about once a year in a beautiful place without any business, just to get to know each other as human beings. Then, later, they could meet to discuss mutual and global problems. I am sure many others share my wish that world leaders meet at the conference table in such an atmosphere of mutual respect and understanding of each other's humanness. international tourism we should share the sufferings of our fellow citizens and practice compassion religion can and should be used by an people or person who finds it beneficial two things there are two things important to keep in mind: self-examination and self-correction despite science and technology there is still a great deal of mental suffering materialistic knowledge can only provide a type of happiness that is dependent upon physical conditions I have written the above lines To tell my constant feeling. Whenever I meet even a 'foreigner', I have always the same feeling: 'I am meeting another member of the human family., This attitude has deepened My affection and respect for all beings. May this natural wish be My small contribution to world peace. I pray for a more friendly, More caring, and more understanding Human family on this planet. To all who dislike suffering, Who cherish lasting happiness - This is my heartfelt appeal.

Compassion and the Individual by the Dalai Lama

The purpose of life... is to be happy. How to achieve happiness... From my own limited experience I have found that the greatest degree of inner tranquility comes from the development of love and compassion. Our need for love... the reason why love and compassion bring the greatest happiness is simply that our nature cherishes them above all else. Interdependence is a fundamental law of nature. Nowadays, many children grow up in unhappy homes. If they do not receive proper affection, in later life they will rarely love their parents and, not infrequently, will find it hard to love others. This is very sad. Developing compassion... the love parents feel of their child is often strongly associated with their own emotional needs. True compassion is not just an emotional response but a firm commitment founded on reason. Therefore, a truly compassionate attitude towards others does not change even if they behave negatively. How can we start... removing the greatest hindrance to compassion: anger and hatred. use reason and patience (antidotes to anger) Friends and enemies And who creates such opportunities? Not our friends, of course, but our enemies. They are the ones who give us the most trouble, So if we truly wish to learn, we should consider enemies to be our best teacher! Many smiles produce no feeling of satisfaction, and sometimes they can even create suspicion or fear, can't they? But a genuine smile really gives us a feeling of freshness and is, I believe, unique to human beings. If these are the smiles we want, then we ourselves must create the reasons for them to appear. Compassion and the world individual happiness can contribute in a profound and effective way to the overall improvement of our entire human community. Ultimately, humanity is one and this small planet is our only home, If we are to protect this home of ours, each of us needs to experience a vivid sense of universal altruism. It is only this feeling that can remove the self-centered motives that cause people to deceive and misuse one another. I try to treat whoever I meet as an old friend. This gives me a genuine feeling of happiness. It is the practice of compassion

A Human Approach to World Peace

We can only conclude that there must be something seriously wrong with our progress and development, and if we do not check it in time there could be disastrous consequences for the future of humanity. I am not at all against science and technology - they have contributed immensely to the overall experience of humankind; to our material comfort and well-being and to our greater understanding of the world we live in. But if we give too much emphasis to science and technology we are in danger of losing touch with those aspects of human knowledge and understanding that aspire towards honesty and altruism. 1. Universal humanitarianism is essential to solve global problems; 2. Compassion is the pillar of world peace; 3. All world religions are already for world peace in this way, as are all humanitarians of whatever ideology; 4. Each individual has a universal responsibility to shape institutions to serve human needs. Solving Human Problems through Transforming Human Attitudes We must remember that the different religions, ideologies, and political systems of the world are meant for human beings to achieve happiness. We must not lose sight of this fundamental goal and at no time should we place means above ends; the supremacy of humanity over matter and ideology must always be maintained. By far the greatest single danger facing humankind - in fact, all living beings on our planet - is the threat of nuclear destruction Every being wants happiness and does not want suffering. Compassion as the Pillar of World Peace Let me first define what I mean by compassion. When you have pity or compassion for a very poor person, you are showing sympathy because he or she is poor; your compassion is based on altruistic considerations. On the other hand, love towards your wife, your husband, your children, or a close friend is usually based on attachment. When your attachment changes, your kindness also changes; it may disappear. This is not true love. Real love is not based on attachment, but on altruism. In this case your compassion will remain as a humane response to suffering as long as beings continue to suffer. This type of compassion is what we must strive to cultivate in ourselves, and we must develop it from a limited amount to the limitless. Undiscriminating, spontaneous, and unlimited compassion for all sentient beings is obviously not the usual love that one has for friends or family, which is alloyed with ignorance, desire, and attachment. The kind of love we should advocate is this wider love that you can have even for someone who has done harm to you: your enemy.

Dalai Lama on Happiness

What does happiness mean? in the sense of satisfaction, neutral sort of experience, deep satisfaction, peace of mind, firstly from warm-heartedness. he is always open. he is one of 7 billion human beings. we are mentally, emotionally, spiritually the same the ultimate source of satisfaction is within ourself. if you do wrong things, negative consequences. if you help others, positive. advertising, technology, materials no one talking about warm heartedness. a lot of bad things but there are a lot of good things. we are social animals, therefore friendship is essential. more fear cannot develop trust. loneliness #1 cause of depression. jealousy brings distrust bring frustration brings fear then lonely fear. fear is not from environment but from mental attitude. eventually we can make new person

Moral Mind of MLK

`This day marks a triumph of ethics over law. What do I mean exactly? To put it plainly, King was law breaker. And that was a VERY GOOD thing. It was good because the laws King broke were evil laws. Laws which were lies and committed to violence because they said some people were better than others. Society was ready to apply power to enforce those lies, both through the violence of the police and legal system and through extrajudicial violence like lynching. One way to hide a lie it to threaten those who disbelieve it. But King didn't care about that. A lie is always a lie, and should be exposed and allowed to shrivel up in the sun. A good exposure to truth ought to kill most lies in short order. King knew there was a higher law which declared the "laws" of society and the state to be lies. What was this higher law? God's law, of course. King's Letter from Birmingham Jail (PDF here) is a landmark piece of American history - and philosophy. In this letter King explains why he is breaking the law, and he explicitly appeals to the Christian tradition of ethics, citing St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Augustine, among others. Any human law which violates natural or divine law is not a law at all, but violence against the law, and therefore it need not be obeyed King always said he was not causing violence, only exposing the violence that was already there. He was right. The powerful like their lies, and are willing to send others to fight on their behalf to protect their lies (they hardly ever go themselves). Perhaps the most important thing that this day should teach to us is that might does not make right. Sometimes might makes wrong. And in that case, might needs to be challenged, stood up to, and informed that it is doing evil. It takes a very brave person to do that, a person with a lot of faith in God and/or humanity. King was one of those people and he died in the process. But the truth he showed us lives on.

A fascinating connection between MLK and Gandhi

came to India as a pilgrim. pivotal event in Civil Rights movement. saw himself as a follower of Gandhi. Going to India was crucial for him. MLK thought he wouldn't be judged by Gandhis followers. Civil disobedience approach led to independence. Ambassador Andrew Young said MLK talked about how Gandhi impacted him. The March of Washington came from Gandhis March. John Lewis was profoundly shaped his own values. The teachings of Gandhi made him a better human being, the teachings liberated him and freed him. you can follow them without being a Christian or Hindu. Half a century later, this trip to India took place after a historic American election, and the link — Gandhi to King to Obama — was plain to see for many. Ambassador YOUNG (speaking to delegation): He had on his wall of his Senate office pictures of Martin Luther King, Mahatma Gandhi and Abraham Lincoln. Similarly, Carson says, King would be a thorn in President Obama's side today since he opposed all uses of military force. That's the thing about visionaries like Gandhi and King, he says. They're easy to admire, but difficult to emulate

Martin Luther King Jr. Speech Civil Disobedience and obeying Just vs. Unjust Laws

does not consider breaking law. one is just law and one is unjust law. we have a moral obligation to break unjust law. that when breaks a law that conscience. I do not believe defying and evading the law. willingness to accept the penalty if conscience tells them to break law. has to be true to higher moral law. its in our history, biblical history.

Dalai Lama on Ethics

happy life. in order to achieve happy life the source is within ourself. once our mind is more kind and more joyful, our activities can be more effective. the internal value, there is no limitation. if you make no effort. the material value doesn't equal happiness. America take for granted, too much excess, too much luxuries. simplify. any human action depends on motivation

Universal Responsibility and the Environment

he was taught the importance of a caring attitude toward the environment Our practice of nonviolence applies not just to human beings but to all sentient beings - any living thing that has a mind. Where there is a mind, there are feelings such as pain, pleasure, and joy. No sentient being wants pain: all wants happiness instead. I believe that all sentient beings share those feelings at some basic level. belief in reincarnation Similarly, our planet is our house, and we must keep it in order and take care of it if we are genuinely concerned about happiness for ourselves, our children, our friends, and other sentient beings who share this great house with us. If we think of the planet as our house or' as "our mother - Mother Earth - we automatically feel concern for our environment. It is not at all wrong for humans to use nature to make useful things, but we must not exploit nature to make useful things, but we must not exploit nature unnecessarily. It is good to live in a house, to have medicines, and to be able to drive somewhere in a car. In the right hands, a machine is not a luxury, but something very useful. too much consumption or effort to make money is no good peace and survival of life on earth as we know it are threatened by human activities that lack a commitment to humanitarian values Clearly this is a pivotal generation. Global communication is possible, yet confrontations take place more often than meaningful dialogues for peace. Our marvels of science and technology are matched, if not outweighed, by many current tragedies, including human starvation in some parts of the world and extinction of other life forms.

Martin Luther King Jr talks about Gandhi

hearing message from president of Howard University about trip in India about passive and nonviolence resistance bought several books about Gandhi and Gandhi technique deeply moved by nonviolence idea , deeply influenced by Gandhi, never realizing that it would be useful, apply it and use it

MLK Quotes

https://www.goodreads.com/work/quotes/42030-the-autobiography-of-martin-luther-king-jr

Why Heroes are Important Reading by Scott LaBarge

living deliberately meant becoming a philosopher "There are nowadays professors of philosophy, but not philosophers. Yet it is admirable to profess because it was once admirable to live. To be a philosopher is not merely to have subtle thoughts, nor even to found a school, but so to love wisdom as to live according to its dictates, a life of simplicity, independence, magnanimity, and trust. It is to solve some of the problems of life, not only theoretically, but practically." We largely define our ideals by the heroes we choose, and our ideals -- things like courage, honor, and justice -- largely define us. Our heroes are symbols for us of all the qualities we would like to possess and all the ambitions we would like to satisfy. cure to cynicism is realism about the limits of human nature

Dalai Lama- Conflicting of World Religions

same practice. many christian practitioner. very similar. He shows that all religions have the same goal and similar practice, but very different philosophies. He says that these conflicting philosophies are a GOOD thing and are necessary to meet the demands of each persons own mental disposition and philosophy that suits each person. any islam creates bloodshed is not really islam-- extend love to entire creator like fellow human being.

Foibles of heroes

yes, it reminds us they are human, but cynical approach not helpful; focus on what makes them "noteworthy" and not only on blemish. Are there blemishes of Thoreau, Gandhi, Dalai Lama, Einstein,MLK? Certainly. Yet, focus on contributions and this will allow us to expand our "horizon on possibilities."