POSTED BY: BOB KNOTTS
It has been a tough week for those of us in this country, here in the United States. The Boston bombing, the ricin mailings, the chases, the shootings and arrests … and of course the deaths and injuries that followed another terrorist attack. At such times, it helps to look toward the light. And toward faith — faith in other people, ironically enough. Whatever your personal religious beliefs, a faith in humanity surely must be part of a useful belief system for any person. Toward that end, we offer this inspiring and heartbreaking photograph of eight-year-old Martin Richard, one of those killed in the Boston Marathon attack. And we also want to share some quotes from great minds that understood we need to rise above our pain to see the larger truth: The advance of humanity is slow and painful, and often halting. But it is real. Emerson called it “advancing on chaos and the dark.” And so the Humanity Project this week encourages a greater faith … in people:
- “You must not lose faith in humanity. Humanity is an ocean; if a few drops of the ocean are dirty, the ocean does not become dirty.” Mohandas K. Gandhi, 1869-1948, Indian spiritual leader
- “We cannot despair of humanity, since we ourselves are human beings.” Albert Einstein, 1879-1955, U.S. physicist born in Germany
- “An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.” Martin Luther King, Jr., 1929-1968, American clergyman and civil rights leader
- “If you want to awaken all of humanity, then awaken all of yourself. If you want to eliminate the suffering in the world, then eliminate all that is dark and negative in yourself. Truly, the greatest gift you have to give is that of your own self-transformation.” Lao Tzu, 6th Century B.C., Chinese philosopher and founder of Taoism
