"Why should there be hunger and privation in any land, in any city, at any table when man has the resources and the scientific know-how to provide all mankind with the basic necessities of life? Even deserts can be irrigated and top soil can be replaced. We cannot complain of a lack of land, for there are twenty-five million square miles of tillable land, of which we are using less than seven million. We have amazing knowledge of vitamins, nutrition, the chemistry of food, and the versatility of atoms. There is no deficit in human resources; the deficit is in human will. The well-off and the secure have too often become indifferent and oblivious to the poverty and deprivation in their midst. The poor in our countries have been shut out of our minds, and driven from the mainstream of our societies, because we have allowed them to become invisible. Just as nonviolence exposed the ugliness of racial injustice, so must the infection and sickness of poverty be exposed and healed — not only its symptoms but its basic causes. This, too, will be a fierce struggle, but we must not be afraid to pursue the remedy no matter how formidable the task."
Quote Details
Added by wikiquote-import-bot
Unverified quote
0 likes
Activists from the United StatesSpiritual teachersCivil rights activistsAnti-apartheid activistsAnti-racism activists
Original Language: English
Available Languages (1)
Sources
Imported from EN Wikiquote
https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Martin_Luther_King_Jr.
Revision History
No revisions have been submitted for this quote.
Categories
Martin Luther King Jr.
pastor, preacher, civil rights advocate
1929 – 1968 · United States
523 quotes on TrueQuotesView all quotes by Martin Luther King Jr. →
Related Quotes
"The means by which we live have outdistanced the ends for which we live. Our scientific power has outrun our spiritua…"
"Violence as a way of achieving racial justice is both impractical and immoral. It is impractical because it is a desc…"
"We must set out to do a good job irrespective of race. We must seek to do our life's work so well that nobody could d…"
"The meaning of this story is not found in the drowning of the Egyptian soldiers, for no one should rejoice at the dea…"
"Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumina…"
"There are certain things in our nation and in the world which I am proud to be maladjusted and which I hope all men o…"
"One of the sure signs of maturity is the ability to rise to the point of self criticism."
"Doors are opening now that were not open in the past, and the great challenge facing minority groups is to be ready t…"
"The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at ti…"
"The third way open to oppressed people in their quest for freedom is the way of nonviolent resistance. Like the synth…"