We’ve all heard of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech, but how many can say they’ve read the equally imposing “Letter from Birmingham Jail?”

This nine-page manifesto reveals the guiding philosophy behind King’s pursuit of his dreams. King was often criticized for acting too boldly or too soon. There were many who agreed with his call for civil rights but insisted that he wait for the right time to spur his ideas into real results.

King refused to yield to this criticism, using the days locked in a jail cell to articulate his belief that inaction is just as bad, if not worse, than negative action. While critics urged him to wait, he defended the urgency of the fast-paced civil rights movement.

The meta-theme of the letter is that time waits for no one, and we cannot depend on it to heal the injustices of this world. As far as he was concerned, the white moderates who supported the cause, but refused to do something about it, might as well join the enemy.

King was a man of action. The last thing he would ever want is a day off from the work he was so passionate about. He was optimistic but knew that dreams are nothing without solid, continuing action.

The pursuit of civil rights became his life, and action in the form of civil disobedience was something he lived day in and day out. When King died, his autopsy showed he had the heart of a sixty-year-old man. He’s so indulged in his work that it literally took a physical toll on him. This is the reason he is the youngest recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize. This is the reason he lived fearless and confident that his dreams would be reached.

We’re all passionate about something. We all talk about what we want for ourselves or for the world, but do we actually work for our dreams or are we waiting for the right time that will never come? The time is now. The Roman stoic Marcus Aurelius wrote that “People who love what they do wear themselves down doing it, they even forget to wash or eat. They’d rather stop eating and sleeping than give up practicing their arts.” No one lived with this attitude better than Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

He went about his work regardless of criticism and circumstance, even from the confines of a jail cell. How many of us can say we live with that kind of dedication? We can talk all we want about honoring his life, but talking is far different from acting. King called this all-talk-no-walk approach “do nothingism.” If we really want to honor his life, we’ll forget about taking another day off and focus on doing something, anything, to improve ourselves or the world we live in. We’ll remember that direct action and hard work are just as important as dreams.