There is nothing like hope quotes to bring us away from the brink of despair in the midst of tragedy or depressing times. That is the idea (sort of) behind this man's book, though I think that his hope is of too much of a political slant and not enough of true hope for the world. To me true hope cannot be brought by the hope quotes of a political party or political opinion, or even by a great political philosopher. If it could, then wouldn't the hope quotes of the many, many politicians of this world's history have changed the world to a much better one than what we have now. Of course, on that logic one could argue that without the hope quotes that have already been given the world that it would be a much worse place, but that is a philosophical argument for another day.
While I understand the importance that politics have played in the history of both our culture and country and the world at large, and certainly hope quotes have been important, I feel that it would take something more than what everybody is already doing and relying on to change the world from the path that it is headed down to one that is more promising, more enlightening, and better for us all.
Perhaps part of that is because there has been left much room to doubt the authenticity of many of the world's hope quotes. While I don't doubt the sincerity of the hope quotes of most of the great thinkers, writers, and speakers of both our age and all previous ones, one can't help but wonder at times whether these hope quotes are inspired purely by a desire to be of use to one's people and to the world, or whether they are inspired by a fear of being obliterated by history's passing after one's death and the subsequent urge to prolifically create and share as many of these hope quotes as possible in the hope that the more one puts out there the longer one's memory will live in the hearts, minds, and historical annals of the people. Often, it seems, contributions to society originate in a weak human grasp at immortality.
Perhaps instead of pursuing immortality through personal history, like becoming famous, writing popular books, or single-handedly raising and destroying governments, we ought instead to be pursuing this eternal effect on the world by learning how to live and love appropriately. Perhaps by leaving an indelible legacy of love on the lives of those we touch during our brief existence we can mold them to do the same. Perhaps our own little words and actions of love can be the hope quotes that change the world. Not in a big, glamorous way, but in the way a thousand individual grains of rice pile together to tip the scale in their direction.
