Democracy is a non-stop experiment in the strengths and weaknesses of our political institutions, local communities, and the human heart – and its outcome can never be taken for granted. The experiment is endless, unless we blow up the lab, and the explosives to do the job are found within us. But so also is the heart’s alchemy that can turn suffering into compassion, conflict into community, and tension into energy for creativity amid democracy’s demands.
– Parker J. Palmer