words of courage and hope from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.

On this day of celebration, a day set aside to recognize the birth of a great leader, a beacon of hope and transcendence, some words from the late Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.:

Change does not roll in on the wheels of inevitability, but comes through continuous struggle. And so we must straighten our backs and work for our freedom. A man can't ride you unless your back is bent.

Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.

Every man must decide whether he will walk in the light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness.

An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.

It is incumbent upon each individual to act upon the "urgency of now" to move society forward in whatever capacity each is able.

oh, those writers . . .

Feeling a bit snarky today. In honor of the smug snark that lies in the hearts of every writer now and then, two quotes from two of the greats.

"This is what I find encouraging about the writing trade: They allow mediocre people who are patient and industrious to revise their stupidity, to edit themselves into something like intelligence. They also allow lunatics to seem saner than sane." - Kurt Vonnegut, Jr.

"They always think that if you write well you're somehow cheating, you're not being democratic by writing as badly as everybody else does." - Gore Vidal

Raowww! Writers, please, retract your claws.