Cynicism or hope?

We have a choice to make for ourselves and the organizations that we lead: cynicism or hope. Moving forward or remaining still. Not starry-eyed, quixotic optimism but a realistic, determined belief that we can figure this out and do this. Or a stagnant, regressive retrenching, an unwillingness to invest in the proven and potential capacity of humanity. Which will you choose?

n

n

And when today cynics dismiss as and impossible dream or naïve idealism proposals to create the institutions of a truly global society let us remind them that people used to think black civil rights a distant dream, the end of the cold war an impossible hope, the ending of apartheid in our generation the work of dreamers, debt relief for the poorest countries an unrealisable idea … And so let us have confidence we can discover anew in ourselves the values we share in common,  … and let us have confidence we can create a global covenant across nations to make peace and prosperity real in our generation.

n

 – Gordon Brown, UK Prime Minister (courtesy of Richard Florida)

n