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Few will have the greatness to bend
history; but each of us can work to change a small portion of
events, and in the total of all those acts will be written the
history of this generation ... It is from numberless diverse acts of
courage and belief that human history is thus shaped. Each time a
man stands up for an ideal, or acts to improve the lot of others, or
strikes out against injustice, he sends forth a tiny ripple of hope,
and crossing each other from a million different centers of energy
and daring, those ripples build a current which can sweep down the
mightiest walls of oppression and resistance.
- Robert F. Kennedy, speaking in South Africa, 1966
Ultimately a genuine leader is not a center for consensus but a
molder of consensus, and on some positions cowardice asks the
question: 'Is it safe?' Expedience asks: 'Is it politic?' Vanity
asks: 'Is it popular?' But conscience asks the question: 'Is it
right?' and there comes a time when one must take a position that is
neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because
conscience tells him it is right ...
- Martin Luther King, Jr., speaking at Sacramento State
College, 1967 |
