An elegant excerpt from Obama's graduation address at Wesleyan :

"We will face our share of cynics and doubters. But we always have. I can still remember a conversation I had with an older man all those years ago just before I left for Chicago. He said, ÒBarack, IÕll give you a bit of advice. Forget this community organizing business and do something thatÕs gonna make you some money. You canÕt change the world, and people wonÕt appreciate you trying. But youÕve got a nice voice, so you should think about going into television broadcasting. IÕm telling you, youÕve got a future.Ó



Now, he may have been right about the TV thing, but he was wrong about everything else. For that old man has not seen what I have seen. He has not seen the faces of ordinary people the first time they clear a vacant lot or build a new playground or force an unresponsive leader to provide services to their community. He has not seen the face of a child brighten because of an inspiring teacher or mentor. He has not seen scores of young people educate their parents on issues like Darfur, or mobilize the conscience of a nation around the challenge of climate change. He has not seen lines of men and women that wrap around schools and churches, that stretch block after block just so they could make their voices heard, many for the very first time. ..."