The Education of an Idealist: A Memoir

by Samantha Power

governments can either do harm or do good. “What we do,” he would say, “depends on one thing: the people.” Institutions, big and small, were made up of people. People had values, and people made choices.

“I know that if we care, the world will care. If we bear witness, then the world will know. If we act, then the world will follow!” he said. “And in every corner of the globe, tyrants and terrorists, powers and principalities, will know that a new day is dawning and a righteous spirit is on the move, and that all of us together have joined hands to ensure that never again will these kinds of atrocities happen.”

Daniel Kahneman, who wisely wrote, “Nothing in life is as important as you think it is when you are thinking about it.”

Al-Anon motto that seemed profound: “Never compare your insides to somebody else’s outsides.”

“Feel the fear and do it anyway,”

Vice President Biden, quoting his own mother: “Nobody’s better than you, but you’re better than nobody.” The UN Charter says that the UN is

“We won,” I told the team, “because we cared more and we worked harder. Never forget how much that can matter.”

Switch: How to Change Things When Change Is Hard, by professors Chip and Dan Heath.

People who care, act, and refuse to give up may not change the world, but they can change many individual worlds.