Hope: An Owner's Manual

"Look, you might as well know, this thing is going to take endless repair: rubber bands, crazy glue, tapioca, the square of the hypotenuse. Nineteenth century novels. Heartstrings, sunrise: all of these are useful. Also, feathers. To keep it humming, sometimes you have to stand on an incline, where everything looks possible; on the line you drew yourself." 

Barbara Kingsolver shares more in this beautiful excerpt from her 2008 Commencement speech at Duke University, "How to Be Hopeful."