In this post I’ll be choosing five Malcom X quotes worth mentioning and discussing.
“Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.”
This quote definitely didn’t age that well. At the time it made perfect sense, especially for African Americans but nowadays I personally see education as a waste of money and time. In the age of the internet we can learn whatever skill we want for free or just for a few bucks. Sure, if you want to become a doctor or a lawyer you have to get a degree but for most jobs I don’t think it is necessary. I got a graduate degree and I was a great student but I still see those six years of my life as a complete waste of my time. On top of that, if people instead of putting time and money in a degree, they used that to start a business, it would be a lot better. Sure a business can fail but even if it fails, you would have definitely learned a lot of new things in the process and gained experience. Going to university for most people is just about getting that piece of paper without really learning or achieving anything of importance and unless you go to a top school and you are already rich and smart and with someone helping you, the meeting new people and make connections for future business is just a myth and there are definitely other places to make those connections anyway.
“People don't realize how a man's whole life can be changed by one book.”
Oh man that’s so true. After reading The Communist Manifesto I was never the same. I don’t agree with everything in that book but when I read it I was 16 years old and it definitely changed the way I looked at things. I was always on the left because of my dad but that book pushed me even more to hate capitalism.
“If you're not careful, the newspapers will have you hating the people who are being oppressed, and loving the people who are doing the oppressing.”
100% right on the money. No need to comment on this one.
“You're not to be so blind with patriotism that you can't face reality. Wrong is wrong, no matter who does it or says it.”
Yeah people so blindly follow their leaders or the side they support, and they don’t see the obvious. Millions of American people still support American meddling in other countries but then when other countries do the same thing they lose their minds. To me that’s insane. Or recently with Donald Trump saying and doing one dumb thing after another one but his supporters still will vote for him no matter what. Ridiculous.
“Be peaceful, be courteous, obey the law, respect everyone; but if someone puts his hand on you, send him to the cemetery.”
I love this quote. That’s actually the first Malcom X quote I have ever learned and the one I’m sure I’ll always remember, well this and the first one. Pretty badass but it doesn’t really apply to our 2020 reality. I doubt it applied to his reality too. Sometimes I do thing that if everyone followed this quote, we’d be living in a better world but then I also remember that anger and violence is not really the best solution.
Malcom X (May 19, 1925 – February 21, 1965) was an American Muslim minister and human rights activist.
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