“One of the principal sources of human misery is a tendency that exists in all of us to take for granted what we are given, and fail to appreciate what we have. There is even a folk wisdom that makes us aware of this, telling us to be wary of those who see the half empty glass when it is also half full. From the most intimate relations that take place within families to the political battles that determine the fate of nations, this simple error in perspective has been the cause of incalculable human suffering from the beginning of time.”

…My advice is the opposite: Feelings, whether authentic or false, are often the worst guide to what is real. The feeling that one is persecuted by Jews ^[10] or threatened by blacks is what drives the haters among us. The feeling that capitalists and corporate rulers exploit and control the people, and stifle their freedom, is the force that inspired idealistic Communists to kill millions and leave wastelands behind.

Instead of feelings, let knowledge be your guide, particularly awareness of what has gone before. History is the record of our human experience and, more importantly, our human limits. This experience teaches a powerful lesson: Better to work with the world we have and improve it step by measured step, than to seek a revolution to wipe out the past and everything we have so painfully learned.”