The Power of Choice

‘Homo sum, humani nihil a me alienum puto’, is a Latin quote that translates to, ‘I am a human and nothing human is alien to me’. This powerful quote is attributed to Roman playwright Terence, who was brought to Rome from Africa as a slave, but was eventually freed. This is a quote that was often used by Maya Angelou, the famous poet and activist, in her class, to drive home infinite possibilities of the human psyche.

A quote so powerful, it talks about how every human being possesses whatever it takes to do what some other human being has done- be that something mundane, something brilliant, something inspiring or something that is pure evil. Yet, a larger chunk of humanity is not pure evil, because we make a conscious choice to not be evil. Such is the power of choice.

Given this immense power of conscious choice that we humans possess, I sometimes wonder if defying labels and stereotypes, rising against odds or creating a positive impact is just a matter of choice. It probably is, because when we consciously choose to do something, we do whatever it takes for us to reach the desired end goal. 

This just goes to show that we are limited by our own thoughts. And this is a thought that I hope to hold onto for the rest of the year and all the years that follow.


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