“Are we being good ancestors?”
— Jonas Edward Salk
Quote found in The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric
His talk at the Engadin Art Talk on Longue Durée
a positive outlook
“Are we being good ancestors?”
— Jonas Edward Salk
Quote found in The Good Ancestor by Roman Krznaric
His talk at the Engadin Art Talk on Longue Durée
Bookshelf at the Coalmine, Winterthur.
A list of children’s books sensitising on cultural diversity, inclusion and social inequalities can be found on my website One Humanity.
The book Where Children Sleep by James Mollison portrays children around the world and their sleeping places, from rich to poor, from a monastery, to a children’s home, a tent, a field, a penthouse.
“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there – on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.
The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.
Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.
The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.
It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we’ve ever known.”
– Carl Sagan’s Pale Blue Dot from 1994, read by the wonderful Neil deGrasse Tyson
“You should be far more concerned with your current trajectory than with your current results.”
– James Clear, author of Atomic Habits: An easy and proven way to build good habits and break bad ones
Skaterpark Pontresina.
“A lot of evidence indicates that we are destroying the foundations of human prosperity in an orgy of reckless consumption.”
– Yuval Noah Harari, Sapiens, A Brief History of Humankind
One of the most moving quotes from a brave and resilient young woman in the book Humans of New York Stories, which originates from the beautiful website Humans of New York :
“I was sexually abused between the ages of eight and twelve. But honestly, I don’t even like to talk about it anymore, because I’ve finally gotten to the point where it no longer defines me. For a long time I saw myself as a victim, but I’ve moved past that. I’m in a place now where I realize that my life is mine to create and enjoy, and that my future will be the result of the decisions that I make.”
Taking back control and having aspirations for ones future are essential in overcoming trauma. Most refugee children have experienced neglect, sexual exploitation, emotional abuse and violence. Sexual and emotional abuse and corporal punishment are taboos in our society. Let us support children by helping them get out of their isolation and build their future.
The 7 habits of highly effective people by Stephen R. Covey (habit 5)
“An enemy is one of the most important teachers. Without an enemy you cannot practice tolerance, and without tolerance you cannot build a sound basis of compassion.”
Indian scholar Shantideva in How to Practice, The Way to a Meaningful Life by the Dalai Lama
Bookstore at Fotografiska Museum Stockholm.