Quotes: Martin Luther King. Martyr. Mask. Mass Movements.

A collection of quotes on various topics. The sentence in bold face is a plain statement of the quote that follows.

Martin Luther King
My dream is that the sons of slaves and slave owners will join in brotherhood.
Martin Luther King 887 MLK: “I have a dream that on the red hills of Georgia the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave-owners will be able to sit together at the table of brotherhood.” Schlesinger, A Thousand Days

Martyr
The martyr sacrifices his life to prove his worth.
Martyr 88 He sacrifices his life to prove his worth. Hoffer, The True Believer

He who enjoys learning from his experience is not likely to accept the idea of martyrdom because that will be the end of his experience.
Martyrdom 82 He who is free to draw conclusions from his individual experience and observation is not usually hospitable to the idea of martyrdom. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mask
He masks his personality with dull composure to prevent people from seeing his personality.
Mask 1060 …the mask of dull composure…to attempt throwing a cloud over our transparency. Hawthorne, The Marble Faun.

Mass movements
Mass movements: readiness to die; desire for united action; fanaticism; enthusiasm; fervent hope, hatred and intolerance; blind faith; single-hearted allegiance.
Mass movements xxvii All mass movements generate in their adherents a readiness to die…a proclivity for united action…breed fanaticism, enthusiasm, fervent hope, hatred and intolerance…are capable of releasing a powerful flow of activity…demand blind faith and single hearted allegiance. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mass movements provide hope for the future while depriving their followers of enjoyment of the present.
Mass movements 15 Mass movements are usually accused of doping their followers with hope of the future while cheating them of the enjoyment of the present. Hoffer, The True Believer

Stop a mass movement by substituting another mass movement.
Mass movements 19 …stopping a mass movement is often a matter of substituting one movement for another. Hoffer, The True Believer

Offer a chance for action and a new beginning to stop the rise and spread of mass movements.
Mass movements 20 In general, any arrangement which…offers chances for action and new beginnings tends to counteract the rise and spread of mass movements. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mass movements depend on their followers’ desire for united action and self sacrifice.
Mass movements 61 The vigor of a mass movement stems from the propensity of its followers for united action and self-sacrifice. Hoffer, The True Believer

Processions, parades, rituals and ceremonials cause participants and spectators to get out of themselves.
Mass movements 71 There is no doubt that in staging its processions, parades, rituals and ceremonials, a mass movement touches a responsive chord in every heart…an exhilaration and getting out of one’s skin in both participants and spectators. Hoffer, The True Believer

The True Believer takes his facts from some kind of “Holy Writ,” Not from his experience.
Mass movements 82 The facts on which the true believer bases his conclusions must not be derived from his experience or observation but from holy writ. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mass movements “deindividualize” and therefore dehumanize.
Mass movements 105 The deindividualization which is a prerequisite for thorough integration and selfless dedication is also, to a considerable extent, a process of dehumanization. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mass movements prefer coercion to persuasion.
Mass movements 113 It also seems that, where a mass movement can either persuade or coerce, it usually chooses the latter. Hoffer, The True Believer

The True Believer feels that he is in possession of the one and only truth, that one is backed by an irresistible and inevitable power, that one’s opponent is evil incarnate and must be crushed, that one must selflessly be devoted to duty: the qualifications for ruthless action.
Mass movements 126 To be in possession of the one and only truth and never doubt one’s righteousness; to feel that one is backed by a mysterious power whether it be God, destiny or the law of history; to be convinced that one’s opponents are the incarnation of evil and must be crushed; to exult in self-denial and devotion to duty--these are admirable qualifications for resolute and ruthless action in any field. Hoffer, The True Believer

Preparation for mass movements is started by speakers and writers; hatching the movement requires fanatics; and consolidation is accomplished by practical men of action.
Mass movements 138 What the classification attempts to suggest is that the readying of the ground for a mass movement is done best by men whose chief claim to excellence is their skill in the use of the spoken or written word; that the hatching of an actual movement requires the temperament and the talents of the fanatic; and that the final consolidation of the movement is largely the work of practical men of action. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mass movements are instruments of power for the successful and opiates for the frustrated.
Mass movements 161 Thus in the end . . . the movement is an instrument of power for the successful and an opiate for the frustrated. Hoffer, The True Believer

Mass movements destroy the present in their preoccupation with the future.
Mass movements92 The mass movement comes to destroy the present…in its preoccupation…with the future. Hoffer, The True Believer