When we realize the degree of agency we actually do have, we no longer have to "hope" at all. We simply do the work.

Casey Maddox wrote that when philosophy dies, action begins. I would say in addition that when we stop hoping for external assistance, when we stop hoping that the awful situation we're in will somehow resolve itself, when we stop hoping the situation will somehow not get worse, then we are finally free - truly free - to honestly start working to thoroughly resolve it. I would say when hope dies, action begins.

I am only so beautiful as the character of my relationships, only so rich as I enrich those around me, only so alive as I enliven those I greet.

A primary purpose of the police is to enforce the delusions of those with lots of green paper.

Like the layers of an onion, under the first lie is another, and under that another, and they all make you cry.

We cannot hope to create a sustainable culture with any but sustainable souls.

Yes, it's vital to make lifestyle choices to mitigate damage caused by being a member of industrialized civilization, but to assign primary responsibility to oneself, and to focus primarily on making oneself better, is an immense copout, an abrogation of responsibility.