It’s Martin Luther King, Jr. Day here in the U.S., and most of us have the day off. Rather than treat it as a do-nothing day, however, I plan to do some reading and research and work on the mind a little. I think Dr. King would approve. He’s always an incredibly inspiring person to me, not only because of his fight for justice, but also because of his dedication to non-violence, which is an important guiding principle in my own life. Today, of course, I have even more opportunity to be inspired — so many friends are sharing their favorite quotations and moments from his great speeches on Facebook and around the internet. Here’s the one I shared last year, and one for this year:

The ultimate weakness of violence is that it is a descending spiral, begetting the very thing it seeks to destroy. Instead of diminishing evil, it multiplies it. Through violence you may murder the liar, but you cannot murder the lie, nor establish the truth. Through violence you may murder the hater, but you do not murder hate. In fact, violence merely increases hate. So it goes. … Returning hate for hate multiplies hate, adding deeper darkness to a night already devoid of stars. Darkness cannot drive out darkness: only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate: only love can do that. — Where Do We Go from Here? (1967)