[Ailist] Inspiring quote

[Amanda Trosten-Bloom]

The Howard Zinn quote, below, is from a September 2, 2004 article  
entitled "The Optimism of Uncertainty."  Zinn's book, The People's  
History of the United States, is one of my favorites.


On Dec 4, 2007, at 4:00 PM, ailist-request at lists.business.utah.edu  
wrote:
>
> "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 a small 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."
>
> ------------------------------
>
>

Amanda Trosten-Bloom
Principal
Corporation for Positive Change
303-279-2240
amanda at positivechange.org
www.positivechange.org

Co-Author of The Power of Appreciative Inquiry