While the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday was observed yesterday, it’s good to consider his contribution to mankind on more than just that one day.

Below are some quotations attributed to King, a quick perusal of which gives a glimpse of his greatness and the reason why his life is celebrated:

&uot;Without love, benevolence becomes egotism.&uot;

&uot;We are prone to judge success by the index of our salaries or the size of our automobile rather than by the quality of our service and relationship to mankind.&uot;

&uot;The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.&uot;

&uot;Freedom is never voluntarily given by the oppressor; it must be demanded by the oppressed.&uot;

&uot;Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illumines it .&uot;

&uot;Love is the only force capable of transforming an enemy into friend.&uot;

&uot;Peace is not merely a distant goal that we seek, but a means by which we arrive at that goal.&uot;

&uot;Like an unchecked cancer, hate corrodes the personality and eats away its vital unity. Hate destroys a man’s sense of values and his objectivity. It causes him to describe the beautiful as ugly and the ugly as beautiful, and to confuse the true with the false and the false with the true. Power at its best is love implementing the demands of justice. Justice at its best is love correcting everything that stands against love.&uot;

&uot;Man must evolve for all human conflict a method which rejects revenge, aggression and retaliation. The foundation of such a method is love.&uot;

&uot;We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.&uot;

&uot;The quality, not the longevity, of one’s life is what is important.&uot;

&uot;Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about things that matter.&uot;

&uot;Everybody can be great because anybody can serve. You don’t have to have college degree to serve. You don’t have to make your subject and verb agree to serve. You only need a heart full of grace. A soul generated by love.&uot;

&uot;If man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.&uot;