The Wisdom of Martin Luther King, Jr.

by Alex Ayres (Editor)

A collection of wise and profound sayings by the civil rights leader draws on books, speeches, sermons, and other sources to present King's views on forgiveness, freedom, God, and other topics. Original.

Genres: Philosophy

288 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1993

About the author

Alex Ayres (b. 1953) was a successful writer, editor, executive film producer and entrepreneur. He received a B.A. with honors from Harvard College, an M.A. from George Mason University and an M.F.A. from UCLA's Graduate School of Theater, Film and Television. During the peak of the running craze of the 1970s, Alex and his brother Ed founded Running Times magazine, still one of the two major magazines in the sport today. He served as Senior Editor of the magazine, but left to study script writing at UCLA, where he won the school's most prestigious writing award in his final year. His career included writing positions with the U.S. Army Research Institute, Running Times, Runner's World, CBS Productions, Fine Line, New Line, Mutual Films, Paramount Pictures, 20th Century Fox, Fox 2000, Alliance-Atlantis, Capitol Films, The Artist's Studio, Cross Creek and Mark Gordon Productions. He wrote and edited many scripts that were made into television and feature films and served as Executive Producer and script consultant for the The Evil Within (2017), produced by Andrew Getty, heir to the Getty oil fortune. His writing credits include the acclaimed made-for-television movie Search for Grace, as well as Napoleon and Josephine and Hellfire Club. At the time of his death, Alex was working on the production of Playwright, an historical film based on the life of Christopher Marlowe, the Elizabethan playwright whom Alex and others (including Mark Twain and Orson Welles) have suggested was the true author of the works attributed to William Shakespeare. He was a frequent speaker and panelist on this topic and had produced critical scholarship in the area, including the discovery of previously unknown details of Marlowe's life.
Between films, Alex edited over three dozen books for the Wit and Wisdom series and the Quotable Wisdom series that he created and continued to expand over the years. The series compiled quotations (many not commonly known) from Will Rogers, Abraham Lincoln, Martin Luther King Jr., Eleanor Roosevelt, John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and many others.
Alex considered his election as an editor of the Harvard Lampoon one of the landmark accomplishments of his life. He was one of the scriptwriters mentioned in the June 2001 article in Brill's Content that coined the term "Harvard Lampoon Media Mafia." Jim Downey, former Head Writer of Saturday Night Live and "godfather" of the Lampoon Media Mafia, once described Ayres as "the best writer on the Lampoon." His modest style and quiet personality camouflaged an extraordinary wit, notably demonstrated when he introduced John Wayne at the now famous John Wayne Roast at the premiere of Wayne's film McQ, which some consider the greatest Lampoon media event of all time. Several of Alex's jokes from that event were quoted in the national media and referenced in a biography of John Wayne, in which Wayne called this event the most fun he ever had in his life.

Reviews

[Sean Murphy · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, so good. MLK was brilliant, such a great communicator and orator. Somewhat quirky in a great way as a read, but such powerful snipets from his life. You should read this book.

[Malik E · Rating 4 out of 5]

I did not know what to expect from this Martin Luther King Jr book. I thought it would be the same autobiography book that I read about him over the years and basic details that I already expected. However, this book right here was a little shocking because it gave me everything I wanted in a Dr. King book. It still had previous events from his timeline that us reader know about, but it provided particular events that took place in his life and things even he stands on. For example, the march to “Salem” and Dr. King being arrested multiple times because of protesting for the right of Blacks. I also love how despite all the segregation and racism ongoing, he motivated and put his trust in god throughout the process. As you are reading the book, it might be a little long but after a while, it is not that bad. The book is not boring, and it keeps the reader's attention as you are reading. The thing about this book is that the setting of it takes you everywhere. Like as you visualize the book, you instantly feel like that you in a new world and that you are in the shoes of Martin Luther King Jr. For example, when he was talking about the inequality of African Americans during the civil rights era, I can almost imagine that because as an African American, racism still goes around. I like that the book is in A-Z collection, which just gives you a run down on his version of words of wisdom. For example, his quotes on god like “It is cheerful to god when you rejoice or laugh from the bottom of your heart” and him following the teachings of Gandhi. Overall, I am satisfied to read even this book and the book caught my attention. As I said, though even it is long, it has some informative stuff that might get your attention. Therefore, I would give this book a solid four out of five. It was a good book and probably the best book I read all year.

[Doris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Food for thought in this quote "Never succumb to the temptation of bitterness."

I would have rated this higher, but there was quite a bit of repeated information. It is not an easy read - I found that it was best to read an alphabet grouping at a time, as the text was arranged in A to Z order of subjects.