Glorious Dreams
Even in the most difficult of moments, there is growth. When we are struggling in the mighty struggle, the resistance builds us; the forces bend us, and if they do not break us, they make us stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche said it this way, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” As I stand here today to proclaim my thanks, I have survived. If you are listening today, you have also been tested in the fiery furnace of human existence and have not been found wanting. You have survived.
Glorious Dreams
Even in the most difficult of moments, there is growth. When we are struggling in the mighty struggle, the resistance builds us; the forces bend us, and if they do not break us, they make us stronger. Friedrich Nietzsche said it this way, “That which does not kill us makes us stronger.” As I stand here today to proclaim my thanks, I have survived. If you are listening today, you have also been tested in the fiery furnace of human existence and have not been found wanting. You have survived.
As we go forward thinking about what kind of future we can make for ourselves and our children, and their children’s children, I often think of the words of John Ruskin. He said, “When we build, let us think we build forever.” The past washes over us as waves of warning, and helps us understand that where we go from here is determined by what we do now, and how we plan for that future.
I reject the thesis of negativity, and banish those who would condemn us to a terrible future as irrelevant whirlwinds. Only those who have held those positive thoughts for a future of abundance and plenty have the means to make those things happen. Opposition is valuable, but it shouldn’t dominate our world view. Without an optimistic view of our future and our possibilities, there is little hope for either. As the last signers of the Declaration of Independence affixed their names to a dream of a better nations, Benjamin Franklin contemplated a painted sun on the back of a chair. He commented to that painters had found it difficult to distinguish a rising sun from a setting sun.
“I have,” said Mr. Franklin, “often … in the course of the Session, and the vicissitudes of my hopes and fears as to its issue, looked at that… without being able to tell whether it was rising or setting: But now at length I have the happiness to know that it is a rising and not a setting Sun.”
Those who would have us believe the way of life we enjoy today is ending are merely a distraction. Those who listen to those who would discourage us from innovation, exploration and discovery but urge us to dwell on their moaning platitudes about disaster will become less and less influential as the great history of the human race continues.
Think of the progress of mankind in the last thousands of years. From whining about the cold in a cave to becoming the master of fire, we marched across the world inhabiting uninviting places because we could control the elements, and assure a comfortable survival. Look at the first halting journeys across the vast ocean by those brave souls who craved another province to conquer. They were not stopped by storm, by fear, by cowardice or retreat.
They sailed forth bravely to cover this earth with the accomplishments of man, providing a place for sons and daughters to grow and prosper. When tyrants tried to dominate the earth, we rose up and defeated those who would limit us to their narrow view of the world. Growing and stretching across the face of the earth, we have expanded our view to the stars and ventured to our nearest neighbor, to other planets; to the depths of our planet and to circle the earth from above. We have sent our machines exploring the far reaches of our solar system, and cast our thoughts to the edges of the universe seeking the secrets to this creation, so that we might create a better day for all of us tomorrow.
We have plumbed the depths of the human psyche, sought answers to disease, and plowed fertile ground with our minds to find more ways to end the suffering we see around us. With this vast panorama of accomplishment behind us, who can listen to the whining voices of the few who doubt our abilities, our potential, or our aptitude? We can right what is wrong, help those who need our help, enlarge the scope of our successes without worrying if we will accomplish it. All that is necessary is for us to ask ourselves how we can reach those lofty goals, and solutions will begin to form as the amazing potentiality of human endeavor looks for a way.
Point your mind to a miraculous future, and consider those obstacles you would like to see us overcome. Begin to deliberate about what you can do, what you can help others to do, and how your ideas and plans can bring to pass the kind of world you envision. As your magnificent brain begins to contemplate the possible, we will be able to leave the word impossible in the past where it belongs.
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Glorious Dreams
