“We knew the social history of the United States; we had heard the issues discussed a hundred times. We did not know the detail as we encountered it in our efforts to build a local community in a disintegrating society. But had we known all and more, we would have persevered, because the value of doing something does not lie in the ease or difficulty, the probability or improbability of its achievement, but in the vision, the plan, the determination and perseverance, the effort and the struggle which go into the project. Life is enriched by aspiration and effort, rather than by acquisition and accumulation. Knowing this, and despite the odds against success, if we had to do it over again we would…” ~ Helen & Scott Nearing, Living the Good Life
