A Limb
I'm going to go out on a limb and say something that I've never believed before. I'm going to chance living in denial, with the hope that I'll love the life I live. I may be lying to myself, and I may be lying to you. More than anything, if I'm wrong, I may be living this lie. What I'm going to say is so simple that people could never trust its innocence. What I'm going to say is so innocent, that people could never believe its age. And finally, the words by which I live:
People are good.
I'm not saying that people are generally good, nor that they are collectively good. People are not perfect; people are not always wise. But in the end, you can see yourself in the eyes of any child. You can see the child inside the oldest and most dejected of men. Men have gone mad; they've killed their brethren and scorched a golden calf. They have also scaled mountains and traversed lands of gold and honey. Men are imperfect, but in the end, we remember those who were mad, because we fear that such an imperfection may surface again. We remember the bad as a source of good. We remember the good as a path for the better. There are exceptions to every rule; there's a Hitler for every Mother Theresa. In the end, we remember both for the same reason; the advancement of good.
In believing this, I believe that every person tries their best to do what's right. In believing this, I can stand to live in a world with people that I truly don't know.
People are good.
I'm not saying that people are generally good, nor that they are collectively good. People are not perfect; people are not always wise. But in the end, you can see yourself in the eyes of any child. You can see the child inside the oldest and most dejected of men. Men have gone mad; they've killed their brethren and scorched a golden calf. They have also scaled mountains and traversed lands of gold and honey. Men are imperfect, but in the end, we remember those who were mad, because we fear that such an imperfection may surface again. We remember the bad as a source of good. We remember the good as a path for the better. There are exceptions to every rule; there's a Hitler for every Mother Theresa. In the end, we remember both for the same reason; the advancement of good.
In believing this, I believe that every person tries their best to do what's right. In believing this, I can stand to live in a world with people that I truly don't know.