Tuesday, February 22, 2005

Advice for a motivational speaker

I recommend the following passage, from Michael Stocker's "Desiring the Bad".
When I consider people who see no hope for themselves or those they care for, who lack physical and spiritual energy, I am not at all surprised that — as political and anthropological data suggest — they may not seek even what little good they do perceive. Life may be too much for them. We, on the contrary, see the world as open to us, and more importantly, open for us. We can progress. We can make it. We see ourselves out there to be won. We have self-confidence and hope. Indeed we have more than this: we have an optimistic certainty. We have energy. We know we are worthy. We know that, barring bad luck, our enterprise will be rewarded. And so on.
I might drop the beginning, which is a bit too evocative for comfort. And the final sentence rather spoils the effect. But otherwise: very uplifting.

The rest of the paper is good, too, but in a different way.

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