As nations we should also commit afresh to righting past wrongs. In Australia we began this recently with the first Australians - the oldest continuing culture in human history. On behalf of the Australian Parliament, this year I offered an apology to indigenous Australians for the wrongs they had suffered in the past.
Interpretation
Acknowledging and correcting historical injustices is essential for progress.
This quote emphasizes the importance of recognizing and addressing historical injustices faced by marginalized communities, specifically indigenous Australians. By committing to right past wrongs, nations can promote healing, reconciliation, and a more equitable society, acknowledging the value of diverse cultures and histories.
In practice
During a speech on Indigenous Peoples Day, I referenced this quote to highlight the importance of acknowledging past injustices.
We apologise for the laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that have inflicted profound grief, suffering and loss on these our fellow Australians. We apologise especially for the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, their communities and their country.
We are so fortunate, as Australians, to have among us the oldest continuing cultures in human history. Cultures that link our nation with deepest antiquity. We have Aboriginal rock art in the Kimberley that is as ancient as the great Palaeolithic cave paintings at Altamira and Lascaux in Europe.
It was the upward-reaching and fathomlessly hungering, heart-breaking love for the beauty of the world at its most beautiful, and, beyond that, for that beauty east of the sun and west of the moon which is past the reach of all but our most desperate desiring and is finally the beauty of Beauty itself, of Being itself and what lies at the heart of Being.
Isolation is a way to know ourselves.
There is no enlightenment outside of daily life.
I believe God is managing affairs and that He doesn't need any advice from me. With God in charge, I believe everything will work out for the best in the end. So what is there to worry about.
The arguments about parents being too permissive and kids growing up without superegos are not based on fact. Our research tells us that the family is not the only purveyor of morality.
To be true to one's own freedom is, in essence, to honor and respect the freedom of all others.
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