"Out of the setbacks of today, from the darkness of this reaction, a new and brighter day shall dawn. But, my comrades, it is up to you. We cry out against this one and the other, call for this policy and that, ask for new formulas and more and more words: what we need most of all is the selfless spirit which animated our early pioneers.
I am probably as guilty on occasions as anyone of bad temper and heated language : it is certain, though, that this leads nowhere at all.
The Cause Alone Is Worthy
The Great Movement of which all of us are part, no matter what label we put on ourselves, is bigger and more important than any individual or any organisation. No sect, no individual, has all the truth, because truth is many sided, and in its expression any of us may, with perfect good faith, find ourselves wrong.
As my days lengthen and I follow first one and then another to their graves, I find myself reviewing the past and trying to understand the events of to-day. The one solid ground for comfort, is an abiding faith in the goodness of
the average man and woman; those countless myriads who know nothing of our internal strife; the men and women who long for a better day, and respond to our call for action in the hope that we, with them, will make the way straight and the path plain which leads to the better land.
I remain confident that in some way these millions will brush on one side our petty personalities and jealousies, and themselves carve out a "future worthy of themselves and their children; and I believe this because in life I have met more good people than bad, and because I am sure that the masses are growing in knowledge and understanding."
George Lansbury
ILP - New Leader - February 1928
