MLA Citation

The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr.

King, Martin Luther, and Clayborne Carson. The Autobiography of Martin Luther King Jr. New York: Intellectual Properties Management in Association with Warner, 1998. Print.

1. “A man who won't die for something is not fit to live.” 

I find this quote to be meaningful because it describes and sums up the thoughts of people. I think that in life you have to live and in order to really live you have to be willing to die for something you truly love and care about. We see it every day, parents willing to give up their lives for their children, soldiers sacrificing their lives to fight for everyone else’s freedom. This quote really captures that idea of being willing to die for something because what kind of life would it be if you die for nothing? You do not want to die in vain; you want it to mean something.

2. “There is nothing more majestic than the determined courage of individuals willing to suffer and sacrifice for their freedom and dignity.” 

This quote stood out to me and I found it interesting because it ties into the first quote. I think that individuals who are willing to sacrifice themselves for others are very noble. I think that throughout history we have learned about people and groups of people who sacrifice their lives for the greater good, whether it be for their families or to survive and sometimes it may have been a long battle, but we don’t take these liberties for granted. For example, when I read this quote I thought about soldiers who go into battle sacrificing and giving up their freedom to do what is needed to protect their families and the people of their country. I also thought about slaves and how they endured so much and were mistreated and it only raised awareness to the cruelties to that treatment. It takes courage to put your pride and dignity aside to fight for others and protect people. Giving up your freedom so others have a chance at it; that is truly selfless.

3. “I guess one of the great agonies of life is that we are constantly trying to finish that which is unfinishable” 

This quote stood out to me because I thought about how in life or in general the fight or road to success may seem so long and far away that no matter how much closer you think you are at approaching that goal it just pulls away from you. That is a great agony to work towards and for something that seems so unfinishable, it can be compared to the fight to end slavery; I bet many people then did not expect that fight to be over, but years later it happened, as well as segregation and equal rights to vote and marry. Those are battles and wars long fought and sometimes others who have fought for those things may not reap the benefits of it, those who get to experience it should cherish it because there are others who died before seeing these things happen. The thing to take away from this quote is a life lesson to not give up and to continue fighting the good fight.