I do not believe that true optimism can come about except through tragedy.
Interpretation
True optimism often arises from experiencing and overcoming difficult situations.
Madeleine L'Engle suggests that genuine optimism is not a superficial or naive perspective but rather a deep-seated belief that develops in the wake of adversity and tragedy. Through facing and processing life's challenges, individuals can cultivate a more authentic and resilient form of hope that acknowledges the reality of suffering while choosing to look towards the possibilities of the future.
In practice
In a motivational speech about resilience, this quote can emphasize the importance of overcoming challenges.
Truth is what is true, and it's not necessarily factual. Truth and fact are not the same thing. Truth does not contradict or deny facts, but it goes through and beyond facts. This is something that it is very difficult for some people to understand. Truth can be dangerous.
George MacDonald gives me renewed strength during times of trouble--times when I have seen people tempted to deny God--when he says, "The Son of God suffered unto death, not that men might not suffer, but that their sufferings might be like his.
If you don't recount your family history, it will be lost. Honor your own stories and tell them too. The tales may not seem very important, but they are what binds families and makes each of us who we are.
I never want to lose the story-loving child within me, or the adolescent, or the young woman, or the middle-aged one, because all together they help me to be fully alive on this journey, and show me that I must be willing to go where it takes me, even through the valley of the shadow.
The minute we begin to think we have all the answers, we forget the questions.
When we believe in the impossible, it becomes possible, and we can do all kinds of extraordinary things.
Can I confess something? I tell you this as an artist, I think you'll understand. Sometimes when I'm driving on the road at night I see two headlights coming toward me. Fast. I have this sudden impulse to turn the wheel quickly, head-on into the oncoming car. I can anticipate the explosion. The sound of shattering glass. The flames rising out of the flowing gasoline.
I hold that while man exists, it is his duty to improve not only his own condition, but to assist in ameliorating mankind.
The law is constantly based on notions of morality, and if all laws representing essentially moral choices are to be invalidated under the due process clause, the courts will be very busy indeed.
Secrecy destroys accountability.
Earth Democracy connects people in circles of care, cooperation, and compassion instead of dividing them through competition and conflict, fear and hatred.
The difficulty is to try and teach the multitude that something can be true and untrue at the same time.
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