Today’s quote comes from Martin Luther King: ‘We must either learn to live together as brothers or perish as fools.’
Martin Luther King is referring here to brotherhood / fraternity among humans, a term that comes from the French Revolution and was called together with liberty and equality (‘Liberté’ – ègalité – fraternité). It means that every individual is equal no matter who he / she is or what he / she is. Everyone has the same human dignity and should be treated equally. Fraternity is even mentioned in the EU’s human rights declarations. So it is still relevant.
In my experience, topics need to be held on to if they are not yet anchored in the subconscious, if they still need to be ‘learnt’. It’s like learning vocabulary. You write down the vocabulary that you haven’t yet mastered. We rarely include the ones we can already use in our learning schedule, because we can already use them.
Fraternity or brotherhood has not yet been fully realised. But that is exactly what we need, to be less selfish, more altruistic and to consider what consequences our behaviour has on others. To ask ourselves:
- ‘What is the real reason for my actions?’
- ‘Have I considered all aspects?’
- ‘What perspective am I still missing?’
- ‘How would the person/people in question act?’
- ‘Which of my statements or behaviour has contributed to my counterpart behaving this way?’
- ‘If I were in their situation, how would I behave?’
These and similar questions help us to change our own perspective and understand the situation from a different angle than our own. Such holistic approaches have several advantages. The ones that come to my mind immediately are
- Your own empathy increases
- Emotional intelligence is trained
- Your own behaviour is balanced
- Life is enriched through new aspects
These aspects lead to becoming a better self. It opens one’s own eyes and reduces the need to behave and react in a foolish and self-centred way.
What are your suggestions to live the fraternity mindset?
