Are You Fearful or do you have Hope?

Should we be full of fear or of hope? For many years, I’ve paid attention to how people working to improve the world talk about their personal struggles between pessimism and optimism. Two of these, Bill Moyers and Paul Hawken, shared their thoughts with new graduates.

 

“I find I am alternatively afraid, cantankerous, bewildered, often hostile, sometimes gracious, and battered by a hundred new sensations every day.  I can be filled with pessimism as gloomy as the depth of the middle ages, yet deep within me I’m possessed of a hope that simply won’t quit.  A friend on Wall Street said one day that he was optimistic about the market, and I asked him, “Then why do you look so worried?”  He replied, “Because I’m not sure my optimism is justified.” Neither am I.  So I vacillate between the determination to act, to change things, and the desire to retreat into the snuggeries of self, family, and friends.” — Bill Moyers, Baccalaureate address, Hamilton College, May 2006

“Forget that this task of planet-saving is not possible in the time required. Don’t be put off by people who know what is not possible. Do what needs to be done, and check to see if it was impossible only after you are done.

“When asked if I am pessimistic or optimistic about the future, my answer is always the same: If you look at the science about what is happening on earth and aren’t pessimistic, you don’t understand data. But if you meet the people who are working to restore this earth and the lives of the poor, and you aren’t optimistic, you haven’t got a pulse.” — Paul Hawken, Commencement address, University of Portland May 2009