Now More Than Ever

We have to believe in ourselves,
but we mustn't suppose that the path will be easy.
It's tough.
Life is painful, and rain falls on the just.

Mr. Churchill was not being a pessimist when he said,
"I have nothing to offer, but blood, toil, tears and sweat."

He had a great deal more to offer,
but as a good leader he was saying it isn't going to be easy,
and he was also saying something that all great leaders say constantly -
that failure is simply a reason to strengthen resolve.

We cannot dream of a Utopia in which all arrangements are ideal and everyone is flawless.
Life is tumultuous - an endless losing and regaining of balance,
a continuous struggle, never an assured victory.
Nothing is ever finally safe.
Every important battle is fought and refought.

You may wonder if such a struggle, endless and of uncertain outcome,
isn't more than humans can bear.

But all of history suggests that the human spirit

is well fitted to cope with
just that kind of world."-John Gardner