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What Kind of People Help a Nation Flourish? “Darkness cannot drive out darkness; only light can do that. Hate cannot drive out hate; only love can do that.” — Martin Luther King Jr. John and I were recently in Claremont for his 60th reunion at Pomona College. By the time people reach their 60th reunion, seems like they’ve lost a lot of the need to impress and readily reveal their challenges, their passions, their concerns, their foibles, and in the process... a lot of wisdom.

“Whenever you are confronted with an opponent, conquer them with love.” — Mahatma Gandhi It happened at our simple and popular community dinner Thursday night. The Seventh Day Adventists served their signature vegetarian “haystacks.” Usually it’s an easy-going, if a little rowdy, environment. That’s how these things often begin—not in lecture halls or debates, but at long tables where people come carrying their fully human selves. John had sat down with a young woman and her

Why empathy, not intimidation, keeps the crown “Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.”— John Dalberg-Acton “It is much safer to be feared than loved,” wrote Niccolò Machiavelli in The Prince . Nearly five centuries later, Robert Greene revived the same spirit in The 48 Laws of Power : Crush your enemy totally. Conceal your intentions. Keep others in suspended terror. It’s dramatic. It feels strong. It sells. But science tells a very different story.