We Are One

[theLeslie]

  I was watching a very captivating film that, in my humble opinion, I think every human on this planet should take to heart.  In it, I found a quote from one of my personal heroes.  Wiser words are rarely ever spoken.  Please take this to heart, and pass these words on to everyone. 

  "An extraterrestrial visitor examining the differences between human societies would find those differences trivial compaired to the similarities.

  Our lives, our past and our future are tied to the sun, the moon and the stars.  We humans have seen the atoms that constitute all of nature and the forces that sculpted this work.. and we, who embody the local eyes and ears and thoughts and feelings of the cosmos have begun to wonder about our orgins... starstuff contemplating the stars, organized collections of ten billion billion billion atoms contemplating the evolution of nature, tracing that long path by which it arrived at consciousness here on the planet Earth.  Our loyalties are to the species and the planet.  Our obligations to survive and flourish are owed not just to ourselves but to the cosmos, ancient and vast, from which we sprang.

  We are one species.  We are starstuff harvesting starlight."    --Carl Sagan.

  I could not have phrased these thoughts so perfectly.  Carl Sagan is not telling us we humans are one.  He is not denoting the horrors of racism or classism.  He is not decrying religion, nor debasing the value of human life.  He is telling us, we are one with all things, for all things spring from the same place.  This universe, all of us, all our thoughts, all we know, experience, and dread..  From the wealthyest human, to simple shards of glass, or the flowers of a spring field..  We are one; for we all stem from the same origin. 

  When we make war, we war with ourselves.  When we steal, we steal from ourselves.  There is naught we can do, that is not done to ourselves.  All things we love, are ourselves.  And all things we hate, are ourselves.  Therefore, all people must be enlightened to this unifying fact, for in enlightening others, we enlighten ourselves.  Through the bettering of this universe, we achieve personal perfection.  Only when all people strive for peace, and only when all people strive to be this reality's wardens will there ever be a utopia worth living in.  If even one of us is left behind to suffer, then we as a seemless whole are drawn inexorably into that very same anguish.

  Thank you for taking the time to read this post. 

[The Overlord]

Hee hee, two forums members now quoting Dr. Sagan, but the man really was a first class act. Few individuals are possessed of such a holistic and open view of the universe.


The thread title made me immediately think of one of the best G'Kar quotes-


The Universe speaks in many languages, but only one voice. The language is not Narn, or Human, or Centauri, or Gaim or Minbari. It speaks in the language of hope; It speaks in the language of trust; It speaks in the language of strength, and the language of compassion. It is the language of the heart and the language of the soul. But always, it is the same voice. It is the voice of our ancestors, speaking through us, And the voice of our inheritors, waiting to be born. It is the small, still voice that says: We are one. No matter the blood; No matter the skin; No matter the world; No matter the star; We are one. No matter the pain; No matter the darkness; No matter the loss; No matter the fear; We are one. Here, gathered together in common cause. we agree to recognise this singular truth, and this singular rule: That we must be kind to one another, because each voice enriches us and ennobles us, and each voice lost diminishes us. We are the voice of the Universe, the soul of creation, the fire that will light the way to a better future. We are one.

[theLeslie]

  That too is beautiful.  I must look into the G'kar thing.

[The Overlord]

G'Kar is, IMHO, by far one of the best characters on Babylon 5, but the show was crammed with awesome quotes.

http://www.ajbaker.force9.co.uk/b5alienquotes.html