“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?”

Last update Nov. 2, 2021. History

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Martin Luther King, Jr.658

American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Ci… 1929–1968

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“An Individual has not started living fully until they can rise above the narrow confines of individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of humanity. Every person must decide at some point, whether they will walk in light of creative altruism or in the darkness of destructive selfishness. This is the judgment: Life's most persistent and urgent question is: 'What are you doing for others?”

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929–1968) American clergyman, activist, and leader in the American Civil Rights Movement

“You have questions—urgent questions—I know that. And what makes them urgent is that you have in your mind the answers you want to hear. You will be more and more angry if you do not get those answers, but some can’t be given as you would hear them, because they would not be true.”

Theodore Sturgeon book Venus Plus X

Source: Venus Plus X (1960), Section 13 (p. 40)

“Questioning the ostensibly unquestionable premises of our way of life is arguably the most urgent of services we owe our fellow humans and ourselves.”

Zygmunt Bauman book Globalizace: důsledky pro člověka

Source: Globalization: The Human Consequences

“A decade and a half after victory in the Cold War and end-of-history triumphalism, the "what do you leave behind" question is more urgent than most of us expected. The Western world, as a concept, is dead and the West, as a matter of demographic fact, is dying.”

Mark Steyn (1959) Canadian writer

It's the Demography, Stupid (2006)

“Question, What artists do you most admire?”

Alexander Calder (1898–1976) American artist

1950s - 1960s, interview with Alexander Calder', (1962)

“I think of the classical world as a cancer patient or an AIDS patient. You know you have a limited life span. The question you now might want to ask is what would be the most important things to do now with your remaining years. I would like to think that that type of prioritizing could happen with museums, symphony orchestras, opera companies. Things really are urgent right now, and what we're doing somehow has to matter, has to make a contribution.”

Peter Sellars (1957) American theatre director

Source: Mark Swed, "For L.A., History's Knocking", Los Angeles Times, December 26, 1996

“the answer to the persistent question, What is the purpose of the universe? is quite simply: There is none.”

Alexander Rosenberg (1946) American philosopher

The Atheist's Guide to Reality (2011)

“Most of us spend too much time on what is urgent and not enough time on what is important.”

Stephen R. Covey (1932–2012) American educator, author, businessman and motivational speaker

“The Principle of Priority states (a) you must know the difference between what is urgent and what is important, and (b) you must do what’s important first.”

Steven Pressfield (1943) United States Marine

Source: The War of Art: Break Through the Blocks & Win Your Inner Creative Battles

“Who do you love?
It's a question anyone should be able to answer. A question that defines a life, creates a future, guides most minutes of one's days. Simple, elegant encompassing.
Who do you love?”

Lisa Gardner (1956) American author

“Life's most persistent and urgent question is, 'What are you doing for others?”

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Martin Luther King, Jr.658

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