One of the great liabilities of history is that all too
many people fail to remain awake through great periods of social change. Every
society has its protectors of the status quo and its fraternities of the
indifferent who are notorious for sleeping through revolutions. But today our
very survival depends on our ability to stay awake, to adjust to new ideas, to
remain vigilant and to face the challenge of change. The large house in which
we live demands that we transform this worldwide neighborhood into a worldwide
brotherhood [and sisterhood]. Together we must learn to live as brothers [and
sisters] or together we will be forced to perish as fools.
Martin Luther King, Jr., Where Do We Go From Here: Chaos
or Community?
