If our dream is of a world in which truth prevails, we must first allow that truth to prevail within us. To be overcome by truth, each of us, even if only once, must question what we have surrendered to in the name of ideology, tradition, family and society. If we sense a falsehood in our heart, we must stand against it as “one person,” say “no,” and, in order to find the ability to stand and say no alone, first put an end to lying to ourselves and continually repeat to ourselves these words attributed here to Solzhenitsyn:

“If I cannot prevent falsehood and untruth from entering the world, and even if falsehood ultimately prevails, I will not allow it to overcome me.”

This is the true meaning of the courage to be one person—the courage that will break the pervasive silence of darkness.

Aydin Areta