Standing and looking out upon a sunset scene was a bit unnerving today: the contrast between the quiet and peace in which so many of us live here, and the ceaseless, violent struggles that the majority of the world experiences is vast and jarring. Hearing of the growing unrest in Egypt, I am once again reminded of a Steinbeck quote that remains entrenched in my mind forever:
"If the step were not taken, if the stumbling-forward ache were not alive, the bombs would not fall, the throats would not be cut. Fear the time when the bombs stop falling while bombers live - for every bomb is proof that the spirit has not died. And fear the time when the strikes stop while the great owners live - for every little beaten strike is proof that the step is being taken. And this you can know - fear the time when manself will not suffer and die for a concept, for this one quality is the foundation of Manself, and this one quality is man, distinctive in the universe," (Steinbeck, The Grapes of Wrath).
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