TO BE HOPEFUL IN BAD TIMES is not just foolishly
romantic. It is based on the fact that human history is
a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion,
sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to
emphasize in this complex history will determine our
lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity
to do something. If we remember those times and
places--and there are so many--where people have
behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act,
and at least the possibility of sending this spinning
top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't
have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future
is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as
we think human beings should live, in defiance of all
that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
a history not only of cruelty, but also of compassion,
sacrifice, courage, kindness.
What we choose to
emphasize in this complex history will determine our
lives. If we see only the worst, it destroys our capacity
to do something. If we remember those times and
places--and there are so many--where people have
behaved magnificently, this gives us the energy to act,
and at least the possibility of sending this spinning
top of a world in a different direction.
And if we do act, in however small a way, we don't
have to wait for some grand utopian future. The future
is an infinite succession of presents, and to live now as
we think human beings should live, in defiance of all
that is bad around us, is itself a marvelous victory.
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