An Inspiring Message from our CEO & President Emil Sayegh on MLK Day
Today is the Martin Luther King, Jr. holiday in the U.S. There’s a solid reason we celebrate and honor Martin Luther King Day every year, as this day provides all of us with an opportunity to reflect on the life, work and legacy of Dr. King. Every time I read and listen to his “I have a dream speech” from August 28, 1963, I remember the progress we have made in the last 55 years, and certainly the challenges we still have today. I encourage you all to read it and reflect on it. As we celebrate today the life and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., let us commit to doing our part to realize the “dream” that Dr. King spoke about so eloquently.
Some of the things that Dr. King said in his other sermons or public appearances are so inspirational, and ring very true today, as they did 55 years ago. They ring true in our personal lives, as well as business environments.
Here are a few of the inspirational and sobering quotes of this legendary civil rights leader, and Nobel prize winner as he speaks of the brotherhood of mankind, justice, life, hard work, and purpose:
- “Whatever your life’s work is, do it well. A man should do his job so well that the living, the dead, and the unborn could do it no better.”
- “And as we walk, we must make the pledge that we shall march ahead. We cannot turn back.”
- “If you can’t fly, then run. If you can’t run, then walk. If you can’t walk, then crawl. But whatever you do, you have to keep moving forward.”
- “You ought to believe something in life, believe that thing so fervently that you will stand up with it till the end of your days. I can’t make myself believe that God wants me to hate. I’m tired of violence. And I’m not going to let my oppressor dictate to me what method I use.”
- “Forgiveness is not an occasional act, it is a constant attitude.”
- “The first question which the priest and the Levite asked was: ‘If I stop to help this man, what will happen to me?’ But…the Good Samaritan reversed the question: ‘If I do not stop to help this man, what will happen to him?”
- “Through our scientific and technological genius we’ve made of this world a neighborhood. And now through our moral and ethical commitment we must make of it a brotherhood. We must all learn to live together as brothers — or we will all perish together as fools.”
Please join me in honoring the legacy of Dr. King today with the deepest respect and gratitude for him and his accomplishments.
