The prophets of tomorrow are the crazy men of today. This is just a sign of what Einstein called mediocre minds. The mark of a man is not how gentlemanly or harmonious he can be-though these are virtuous ways of carrying oneself; for a gentleman in one society can be a coward in another.
Each of us who is a man of conscience shoulders the burden of balancing reputation, harmony, and the weight of that conscience. There simply is no easy way to do that, and if one is such a man of conscience that he has an eye toward change, that is, ‘justice, compassion, and progress’, it is a heavier burden to be silent and to have feet of clay than it is to embarrass oneself, sacrifice one’s reputation in some degree, and speak up for the good of all.
There are many silent corpses–forgotten, and very few dead heroes. They live on, immortal because immortality was not their aim. Humanity was. The heroes speak–or where the case may call for it–do a deed, but they are the ones who save or inspire the saving of us all. And they become the prophets of yesterday; the role models of men of action, today, and the monuments of humanity, tomorrow. So speak now, or forever rest in peace.
