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Dr. Bernard Lown '42, 1985 Nobel Peace
Prize Winner: "I want to summarize just a few of the many lessons.
"First, perusing history books, one is bound to conclude that only a few
dozen outstanding individuals shape history. Wrong: You, you the people
shape history. Leaders, if they are great, comprehend the culture of
their times and the possibilities, and exploit that.
"Second lesson: A deeply committed, seemingly tiny individual can make a
strong impact. Contradicting what I said earlier, right? But
contradiction is what life is all about.
"The third lesson is not to be afraid to speak up when seeing wrong.
When detecting injustice, many of us are cowed by the experts. It is the
unease of being wrong or going against the crowd or being a solitary
voice.
"Most people fail to achieve greatness in their lives by stilling the
compelling prompting of conscience. To remain silent in the path of
mediocrity, worse still it leaves a precious life unfulfilled. We live
but once! Greatness is a possible destiny for most human beings who are
willing to partner with the momentous challenges and struggles of their
day.
"And the fourth lesson: We must carefully study the past, otherwise we
will be circling the same terrain of error and tragedy, governments who
are too democratic or too totalitarian shape the past. As George Orwell
suggested, 'who controls the past controls the past controls the future,
and who controls the present controls the past.' What you see with
modernity is not forgetting but ignoring history altogether." |
