When I was a young boy in Plains, Georgia, a beloved teacher, Miss Julia Coleman, introduced me to Leo Tolstoy’s novel, War and Peace. She interpreted that powerful narrative as a reminder that
the simple human attributes of goodness and truth can overcome great power.
She also taught us that
an individual is not swept along on a tide of inevitability but can influence even the greatest human events.
Jimmy Carter, from his Nobel Lecture given in Oslo, December 10, 2002