“My friends, love is better than anger. Hope is better than fear. Optimism is better than despair. So let us be loving, hopeful and optimistic. And we’ll change the world.”
You may not agree with some of his political viewpoints, but I think we can all agree that Jack Layton loved his country. He worked incredibly hard on what he believed was best for the country and he worked tirelessly to improve the position of the NDP.
It’s almost a sad irony how his tale turned out. After all those years of relentless dedication, he was finally able to become the Leader of the Official Opposition in the most recent federal election. And then, he succumbed to cancer and passed away shortly thereafter.
I’ve featured other Canadian politicians in this space before, like Justin Trudeau and Gordon Campbell, but I don’t think any of them had the same kind of unwavering optimism and positive energy that Mr. Layton exuded. In the quote above, he reminds us of the importance of keeping a positive, hopeful, and optimistic outlook on life.
Love is indeed better than anger. Hope, even if it is based on false pretenses, is better than unwarranted fear. Keep your head up and keep moving forward for the betterment of all. Jack, you and I may not have always seen eye to eye, but you will be sorely missed. Rest in peace.
Well said Michael. It’s the same basic precepts of the Paradoxical Commandments by Dr. Kent Keith:
People are illogical, unreasonable, and self-centered. – Love them anyway.
If you do good, people will accuse you of selfish ulterior motives. – Do good anyway.
If you are successful, you will win false friends and true enemies. – Succeed anyway.
The good you do today will be forgotten tomorrow. – Do good anyway.
Honesty and frankness make you vulnerable. –
Be honest and frank anyway.
The biggest men and women with the biggest ideas can be shot down by the smallest men and women with the smallest minds. – Think big anyway.
People favor underdogs but follow only top dogs. – Fight for a few underdogs anyway.
What you spend years building may be destroyed overnight. – Build anyway.
People really need help but may attack you if you do help them. – Help people anyway.
Give the world the best you have and you’ll get kicked in the teeth. – Give the world the best you have anyway.
Mother Teresa had a version of this on her wall at her Children’s home that has a more religious tone and ends the way I like it:
In the end, it’s between you and God. It was never between you and them anyway.
I remember your blog post with these exact sentiments. I believe I linked to it in a WUW feature. 🙂