They tell me not to try—
That I’m wasting my time.
But someone tried with me,
And I am the better for it.

They tell me it’s hopeless,
But I’ve experienced successes myself.

They tell me the people won’t listen,
But I listened.

And after a while of hearing such things,
He who says them begins to seem to me
The stupidest of all—
He who dares to declare for others
A fruitless future
When God himself—
The greatest wisher ever for the good of man—
Has still left them alive
To live in this world of possibility
Yet another day.

The naysayer thinks himself enlightened,
Yet cannot see the darkness in his outlook.

But I will speak to him of it.
I’ll push back for his good.
I don’t believe the others can’t change—
Nor that he himself can’t change
This darkened outlook.

Perhaps he’s mad because
I won’t give up like he has.
Or perhaps he’s simply forgotten
And needs a friendly nudge to remember.

If he sees that they are wrong
Not to listen about other things,
Perhaps he’ll see that he’s
Been so stubbornly wrong himself
Not to listen about this.

So don’t tell me that people can’t change—
That grandest excuse for mankind
In all of history.

Has there ever been a bigger lie?

I know it is a lie because
I have changed.

There’s too little hope in this world.
But I still have some.
And I still remember where I got it.