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Courage, Conviction and Consciousness

Courage, to me, was like a big wide-brush stroke - Intimidating, an immense gesture, diifficult to commit to, larger than life...and of course something I associated only with failure and guilt.Then I saw 'Hotel Rwanda' - the story of a man who does not know he is courageous. He follows one simple rule. He only does what he can live with and does not do what he cannot live with. His actions are not so much the result of lofty ideals but just his effort to remain true to himself. His effort is to stay human. One step at a time, one foot in front of the other, without any more motive but to do what he feels will make it right, do whatever he can, with what he can, for whoever he can. The film starts with a quote that goes something like this: 'When it is all over, you will not remember the harsh words of your enemies, but the silence of your freinds', (Martin Luther King Junior). It makes me wonder about the texture of courage and the double-edged power of acquiescence, the power of one silent voice, the self-knowledge that must be inspired by, the noise that drowns out quietness that it must come from, the courage to face that quiet.

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