The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King, Jr.

At the first National Conference on Christian Education of the United Church of Christ, held at Purdue University in the summer of 1958, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. presented two notable devotional addresses. Moved by the clear and persuasive quality of his words, many of the 3,000 delegates to the conference urged that the meditations be made available in book form. They wanted the book for their own libraries and they were eager to share Dr. King's vital messages with fellow Christians of other denominations.

In the resolute struggle of American Negroes to achieve complete acceptance as citizens and neighbors the author is recognized as a leader of extraordinary resourcefulness, valor, and skill. His concern for justice and brotherhood and the Don-violent methods that he advocates and uses, are based on a serious commitment to the Christian faith.

As his meditations in this book suggest, Dr. King regards meditation and action as indivisible functions of the religious life. When we think seriously in the presence of the Most High, when in sincerity we "go up to the mountain of the Lord," the sure event is that "he will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths" (Isaiah 2:3).

Originally published in 1959, The Measure of a Man by Martin Luther King, Jr. will be an inspirational book that you wish to read over and over, and it also can be given to your family members and friends as an excellent little gift.

About the author -- Excerpt from the Wikipedia:

Martin Luther King, Jr. (1929 - 1968) was an American Baptist minister, activist, humanitarian, and leader in the African-American Civil Rights Movement. He is best known for his role in the advancement of civil rights using nonviolent civil disobedience based on his Christian beliefs.

King became a civil rights activist early in his career. He led the 1955 Montgomery Bus Boycott and helped found the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) in 1957, serving as its first president. With the SCLC, King led an unsuccessful 1962 struggle against segregation in Albany, Georgia (the Albany Movement), and helped organize the 1963 nonviolent protests in Birmingham, Alabama. King also helped to organize the 1963 March on Washington, where he delivered his famous "I Have a Dream" speech. There, he established his reputation as one of the greatest orators in American history.

In 1964, King received the Nobel Peace Prize for combating racial inequality through nonviolence. In 1965, he helped to organize the Selma to Montgomery marches, and the following year he and SCLC took the movement north to Chicago to work on segregated housing. In the final years of his life, King expanded his focus to include poverty and speak against the Vietnam War, alienating many of his liberal allies with a 1967 speech titled "Beyond Vietnam".

In 1968, King was planning a national occupation of Washington, D.C., to be called the Poor People's Campaign, when he was assassinated on April 4 in Memphis, Tennessee. His death was followed by riots in many U.S. cities.

King was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom and the Congressional Gold Medal. Martin Luther King, Jr. Day was established as a holiday in numerous cities and states beginning in 1971, and as a U.S. federal holiday in 1986. Hundreds of streets in the U.S. have been renamed in his honor, and a county in Washington State was also renamed for him. The Martin Luther King, Jr. Memorial on the National Mall in Washington, D.C., was dedicated in 2011.

Contents Covered:

• Foreword
• What Is Man?
• The Dimensions of a Complete Life