Quote by Martin Luther King Jr.

One of the grat tragedies of life is that men seldom bridge the gulf between practice and profession, between doing and saying. A persistent schizophrenia leaves so many of us tragically divided against ourselves. On the one hand, we proudly profess certain sublime and noble principles, but on the other hand, we sadly practise the very antithesis of these principles. How often are our lives characterised by a high blood pressure of creeds and an anaemia of deeds! We talk eloquently about our commitment to the principles of Christianity, and yet our lives are saturated with the practices of paganism. We proclaim our devotion to democracy, but we sadly practise the very opposite of the democratic creed. We talk passionately about peace, and at the same time we assiduously prepare for war. We make our fervent pleas for the high road of justice, and then we tread unflinchingly the low road of injustice. This strange dichotomy, this agonising gulf between the and the , represents the tragic theme of man's earthly pilgrimage.

Summary

This quote highlights the inconsistency between what people profess and what they actually do. It laments the division between words and actions that exists in many individuals. Even though we may vocalize noble principles, our actions often contradict these beliefs. We claim devotion to certain ideals but engage in behaviors that oppose them. We declare commitment to democracy but act in ways that undermine democratic values. We speak of peace but actively prepare for war. This paradoxical existence, characterized by the stark contrast between profession and practice, symbolizes the tragic nature of human existence.