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.
Howard Zinn, American Historian
