We always move forward when we say we can make this table bigger.
Ron Suskind
Lewis & Clark College Commencement, 2015, 2015
Video starts at 12:59 — the moment this quote was spoken
The Story Behind This Quote
Ron Suskind, the Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and author of 'Life, Animated,' framed all the great public battles of history as essentially the same struggle: embracing the outlier, bringing in those who have been excluded. Those already at the table are always a little touchy about it — not enough seats, who's got the money for a bigger table? But progress happens when we say 'Let's bring in these people with their noses pressed against the window, these people who are not like us. Let's find the shared humanity because it is shared. In every essential way, we are all identical — all the things a human being wants.'