Our experience of the governments of the world, our knowledge of the weapons at their disposal, and our awareness of our own limitations justify pessimism. But some mysterious factor deep in the human psyche has produced a countervailing conviction that educating, organizing, uniting, and acting will make a difference.

David T. Dellinger
About This Quote

The thoughts expressed in this quote are the yearnings of the human soul. Humans want to feel like they can affect positive change in their lives, but most of us lack the knowledge, experience, and resources required to make a big difference in the world. The optimism that most of us feel is tempered by our knowledge of the limitations of our own power. We know that we cannot possibly solve all of the problems facing us, so we settle for doing what we can.

In other words, we make a choice to focus on improving ourselves and our communities rather than focusing on turning things around completely. In this quote, Nelson Mandela describes how belief in the power of human action overcomes pessimism about human nature.

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