Quotable Quotes: Martin Luther King, Jr.
by Miki SaxonMartin Luther King, Jr. was born yesterday and has a holiday in his honor tomorrow, so today seems like a good time so share some of his thoughts. In the abundance of available quotes I looked for those that had broader applicability than the worlds of politics and religion.
Corporate training, mentoring programs and management coaching should have the same goals as King recommends for education.
The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically… Intelligence plus character – that is the goal of true education.
There is a reason that IBM’s slogan is “Think;” that’s right, just that one word encapsulates its culture and everything it asks of its employees. IBM knows that critical thinking at all levels of the company is its true edge on the competition, as do many others. Sadly, more and more people seem to prefer pursuing silver bullets.
Rarely do we find men who willingly engage in hard, solid thinking. There is an almost universal quest for easy answers and half-baked solutions. Nothing pains some people more than having to think.
In a world where the various flavors of ideology encourage blind acceptance as opposed critical thinking, Kings words ring especially true.
Nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity.
If you do choose to focus on building critical thinking within your organization it is to remember King’s belief regarding progress.
All progress is precarious, and the solution of one problem brings us face to face with another problem.
Finally, if you are responsible for another person’s growth, whether at work, at home or in the general world, print out this bit of wisdom and tape it where you will see it every day.
Lukewarm acceptance is more bewildering than outright rejection.
Flickr image credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/dave_mckeague/362318943/