--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: When you say that [Martin Luther] King…" description: "\"When you say that [Martin Luther] King was a prophet, you don't say that he predicted anything; you say that he bore witness. He left a committed life ..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/cornel-west-708_bores_when-you-say-that-martin-luther-king-was_1290198.jpg" --- # When you say that \[Martin Luther\] King was a prophet, you… ![“When you say that [Martin Luther] King was a prophet, you don't say that he predicted anything; you say that he bore witness. He left a committed life so that people would never forget the suffering of people that he was connected to. King was prophetic because he lived a committed life. Now he…” quote by Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/cornel-west-708_bores_when-you-say-that-martin-luther-king-was_1290198.jpg) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/cornel-west-708_bores_when-you-say-that-martin-luther-king-was_1290198.jpg) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/81a/cornel-west-708_bores_when-you-say-that-martin-luther-king-was_1290198.jpg) > “When you say that \[Martin Luther\] King was a prophet, you don't say that he predicted anything; you say that he bore witness. He left a committed life so that people would never forget the suffering of people that he was connected to. King was prophetic because he lived a committed life. Now he did critique society, saying you're going to go under if you don't treat your poor right. I mean, that is part of prophetic calling, but it's not predicting anything.” [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. Prophetic leadership is about lived commitment and bearing witness, not prediction **In simple terms:** Prophets act, they witness suffering and call for justice Key Takeaway Live committed, witness injustice Themes justice leadership prophetic tradition Mood thought‑provoking critical Type philosophical political When to use this quote - activism - public speaking - policy advocacy - community organizing Key Concepts Witnessing social critique ethical responsibility Questions to Reflect On - How does witnessing differ from predicting? - What actions embody prophetic commitment? A Different Perspective May be seen as merely moralizing ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Critique](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/critique/) [Kings](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/kings/) [Life](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/life/) [People](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/people/) [Prophet](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophet/) [Prophetic](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/prophetic/) [Suffering](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/suffering/) ## Related quotes > [Institutional Christianity has had clear secular benefits to American life for hundreds of years. It's played both a prophetic role in terms of generating…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ross-douthat/institutional-christianity-has-had-clear-secular-benefits-to-american/) [Ross Douthat](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ross-douthat/) > [For me the prophetic has to do with mustering the courage to love, to empathize, to exercise compassion, and to be committed to justice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-the-prophetic-has-to-do-with-mustering-the-courage-to-love-to/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Prophetic pragmatism attempts to keep alive the sense of alternative ways of life and of struggle based on the best of the past. In…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/prophetic-pragmatism-attempts-to-keep-alive-the-sense-of-alternative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The condition of truth is to allow suffering to speak, it means then that if you have a prophetic sensibility, you are committed to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-condition-of-truth-is-to-allow-suffering-to-speak-it-means-then/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [We've got the wrong vision, the wrong values, the wrong priority, and as the great prophetic figure Marian Edelman Wright puts it, we have…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/we-ve-got-the-wrong-vision-the-wrong-values-the-wrong-priority-and-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Drew Dellinger is one of the most creative, courageous and prophetic poets of his generation. I love his spirit. Don't miss him!](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/drew-dellinger-is-one-of-the-most-creative-courageous-and-prophetic/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I think that in a certain sense, we're concerned about the same issues. How do you accent the progressive, the prophetic, those things that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-that-in-a-certain-sense-we-re-concerned-about-the-same-issues/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I think hip-hop can be prophetic and progressive, and at the same time, the dominant forms tend to be homophobic, misogynistic and something that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-think-hip-hop-can-be-prophetic-and-progressive-and-at-the-same-time/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Christians got a lot of work to do. But, the spirit of Dorothy Day is alive. Martin Luther King is still alive. Malcolm X…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/christians-got-a-lot-of-work-to-do-but-the-spirit-of-dorothy-day-is/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ It's true that in reading an interview, I have a little critique of the objectification of women in a \[Playboy\] magazine that is perceived… ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/it-s-true-that-in-reading-an-interview-i-have-a-little-critique-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Once you begin to talk about wealth inequality, especially as it relates to corporations and big banks, or engage in an indictment of U.S.…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/once-you-begin-to-talk-about-wealth-inequality-especially-as-it/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [It's clear that he was incredibly courageous in his critique of white supremacy, wealth inequality, and imperial power as it relates to war in…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/it-s-clear-that-he-was-incredibly-courageous-in-his-critique-of-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I'm praying for Barack Obama to stay on the tightrope because I want to fight his right-wing critics. I want to down I want…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-m-praying-for-barack-obama-to-stay-on-the-tightrope-because-i-want/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Experts say this global warming is serious, and they are predicting now that by the year 2050, we will be out of party ice.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/david-letterman/experts-say-this-global-warming-is-serious-and-they-are-predicting/) [David Letterman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/david-letterman/) > [People who are complaining about the Fed are people who've been predicting runaway inflation for five and six years, and it hasn't happened.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-krugman/people-who-are-complaining-about-the-fed-are-people-who-ve-been/) [Paul Krugman](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/paul-krugman/) ## More by Cornel West > [There has certainly been ugly, right-wing hatred targeting Barack Obama.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/there-has-certainly-been-ugly-right-wing-hatred-targeting-barack-obama/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [What is accurately portrayed is the rich humanity not just of Martin Luther King but of the movement, which was a multiracial movement. You…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/what-is-accurately-portrayed-is-the-rich-humanity-not-just-of-martin/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I feel as if I have been blessed to undergo a transformation from 'gangster' to 'redeemed sinner with gangster proclivities.'](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-feel-as-if-i-have-been-blessed-to-undergo-a-transformation-from/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [“Like King, we need to put on our cemetery clothes and be coffin-ready for the next great democratic battle.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/like-king-we-need-to-put-on-our-cemetery-clothes-and-be-coffin-ready/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [ “You can't really move forward until you look back. \[From Remaking America panel discussion at George Washington University\]” ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-t-really-move-forward-until-you-look-back-from-remaking/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [When we think of globalization we are thinking in part of structures and institutions that have been developed over time and that have allowed…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/when-we-think-of-globalization-we-are-thinking-in-part-of-structures/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The challenge artists face today is whether to be an underground, unheard genius, or to dilute their art for the marketplace.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-challenge-artists-face-today-is-whether-to-be-an-underground/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The need of black conservatives to gain the respect of their white peers deeply shapes certain elements of their conservatism. In this regard, they…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-need-of-black-conservatives-to-gain-the-respect-of-their-white/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [For me, musicians are poets. Beethoven describes himself as a poet of tones, just like Coltrane's a poet of tempo.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/for-me-musicians-are-poets-beethoven-describes-himself-as-a-poet-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [I don't draw any distinctions between forms of bigotry or forms of ideology that lose sight of the humanity of people. I can't stand…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/i-don-t-draw-any-distinctions-between-forms-of-bigotry-or-forms-of/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Barack Obama has domesticated the left in such a way that we feel as if we have no alternative but him...I refuse to accept…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/barack-obama-has-domesticated-the-left-in-such-a-way-that-we-feel-as/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Larry Summers, I think, he had a long history of arrogance and relative ignorance about poor people's culture and working people's culture and so…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/larry-summers-i-think-he-had-a-long-history-of-arrogance-and-relative/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [The greatest gift you can give someone is the gift of inspiration.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/the-greatest-gift-you-can-give-someone-is-the-gift-of-inspiration/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [You can see it in terms of the obsession on Wall Street with not just profits but greed, more profit, more profit.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/you-can-see-it-in-terms-of-the-obsession-on-wall-street-with-not-just/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) > [Anybody who takes Martin Luther King seriously has got to go beyond the standard understanding of who he was, has to connect those dots.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornel-west/anybody-who-takes-martin-luther-king-seriously-has-got-to-go-beyond/) [Cornel West](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) [Explore all 400 Cornel West quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornel-west/) ## More Bores quotes > [It's a bore - B-O-R-E - when you find you've begun to rot.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/katharine-hepburn/it-s-a-bore-b-o-r-e-when-you-find-you-ve-begun-to-rot/) [Katharine Hepburn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/katharine-hepburn/) > [Redtail was a brave warrior. His loyalty to ThunderClan could never be doubted. I always relied on his judgment, for it bore witness to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/erin-hunter/redtail-was-a-brave-warrior-his-loyalty-to-thunderclan-could-never-be/) [Erin Hunter](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/erin-hunter/) > [We are almost always wearied in the company of persons with whom we are not permitted to be weary.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/we-are-almost-always-wearied-in-the-company-of-persons-with-whom-we/) [Francois de La Rochefoucauld](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/francois-de-la-rochefoucauld/) > [The poet's first rule must be never to bore his readers; and his best way of keeping this rule is never to bore himself-which,…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-graves/the-poet-s-first-rule-must-be-never-to-bore-his-readers-and-his-best/) [Robert Graves](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-graves/) > [Attractive Etonians who go straight onto the Stock Exchange missing University on their fathers advice: the raw material of the great bores.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/geoffrey-madan/attractive-etonians-who-go-straight-onto-the-stock-exchange-missing/) [Geoffrey Madan](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/geoffrey-madan/) > [Life in this society being, at best, an utter bore and no aspect of society being at all relevant to women, there remains to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/valerie-solanas/life-in-this-society-being-at-best-an-utter-bore-and-no-aspect-of/) [Valerie Solanas](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/valerie-solanas/) > [All politicians are bores and liars and fakes. I talk to people.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/martha-gellhorn/all-politicians-are-bores-and-liars-and-fakes-i-talk-to-people/) [Martha Gellhorn](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/martha-gellhorn/) > [And I am quite serious when I say that I do not believe there are, on the whole earth besides, so many intensified bores…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/charles-dickens/and-i-am-quite-serious-when-i-say-that-i-do-not-believe-there-are-on/) [Charles Dickens](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/charles-dickens/) > [Mr. Presley has no discernible singing ability. His specialty is rhythm songs which he renders in an undistinguished whine; his phrasing, if it can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jack-gould/mr-presley-has-no-discernible-singing-ability-his-specialty-is-rhythm/) [Jack Gould](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jack-gould/) > [Mark how fleeting and paltry is the estate of man-yesterday in embryo, tomorrow a mummy or ashes. So for the hairsbreadth of time assigned…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marcus-aurelius/mark-how-fleeting-and-paltry-is-the-estate-of-man-yesterday-in-embryo/) [Marcus Aurelius](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marcus-aurelius/) > [It is an occupational hazard of devout folk to become stuffy bores. This should not be. Of all people, we should be the most…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/richard-j-foster/it-is-an-occupational-hazard-of-devout-folk-to-become-stuffy-bores/) [Richard J. 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Auden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/w-h-auden/) > [The cross of Christ is the sweetest burden that I ever bore; it is such a burden as wings are to a bird, or…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/samuel-rutherford/the-cross-of-christ-is-the-sweetest-burden-that-i-ever-bore-it-is/) [Samuel Rutherford](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/samuel-rutherford/) > [It is a sin to bore a child with the Word of God.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/howard-g-hendricks/it-is-a-sin-to-bore-a-child-with-the-word-of-god/) [Howard G. Hendricks](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/howard-g-hendricks/) Browse all 653 Bores quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "When you say that [Martin Luther] King was a prophet, you don't say that he predicted anything; you say that he bore witness. He left a committed life so that people would never forget the suffering of people that he was connected to. King was prophetic because he lived a committed life. 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