As a part of preparing those lawsuits, learning about those

Tom Udall spoke with the gravity of one who had walked among shadows: “As a part of preparing those lawsuits, learning about those lawsuits, I learned about the various nuclear issues in parts of the nuclear production process, I guess you’d say.” Though his words are plain and deliberate, behind them stirs a lesson older than courts, older than governments, older even than written law: that to seek justice is to uncover truth, and that truth is often buried beneath layers of secrecy, power, and danger. His reflection is not merely about litigation—it is about awakening, about the knowledge gained when one stands before forces greater than oneself.

To engage with lawsuits is not only to argue with statutes but to wrestle with morality. Each case is a battlefield where truth and falsehood, guilt and innocence, responsibility and neglect contend for supremacy. In preparing such struggles, Udall found himself not only examining pages of testimony, but peering into the very heart of the nuclear process, a domain where science, politics, and human survival converge. His words remind us that the pursuit of justice inevitably leads the seeker into realms he did not expect to enter.

The mention of nuclear issues is more than technical—it is an echo of humanity’s most perilous discovery. The power that can light cities or destroy them, that can heal through medicine or poison through fallout, is bound within the atom. To learn of this while preparing for lawsuits is to feel the weight of dual truths: the glory of human ingenuity, and the terror of its misuse. Like Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, mankind has wrested the energy of the universe, but unlike Prometheus, mankind holds in its hands not only warmth, but annihilation.

History itself bears witness to this duality. Think of the trials of Nuremberg, where prosecutors uncovered not only crimes of war but the industrial machinery of horror, hidden behind bureaucratic language and technical precision. Those who entered the courtroom to argue law emerged having learned the depth of human cruelty and the terrible consequences of unchecked power. In the same way, Udall’s words reveal how the path of a lawyer became the path of a witness—one who came to see the hidden dangers within the production process of a force meant to protect, yet capable of devastating harm.

And yet, there is something deeply human in the way Udall qualifies his memory with the phrase, “I guess you’d say.” It is the humility of one who knows the vastness of the subject before him, who understands that even with study, the full complexity of nuclear power and its consequences cannot be easily contained in words. This humility is itself a mark of wisdom: for true understanding does not boast, but bows.

From his words we must learn: that every struggle for justice requires more than legal argument—it demands learning, humility, and courage to face truths we may not wish to see. To involve oneself in great matters, whether of law or science, is to risk being transformed by what one uncovers. The seeker must be ready not only to fight, but to change, to grow, and to carry forward the responsibility of new knowledge.

So let the lesson be plain: if you are called to a task, do not approach it with narrow eyes. Be open to the hidden knowledge it will reveal. If your work is in law, you may learn of science. If your work is in science, you may learn of morality. If your path is humble, you may yet be given insight into matters vast and eternal. Walk as Udall walked—prepared for lawsuits, but awakened to nuclear issues—and you will find that every duty is a doorway to greater understanding.

Thus, take this action in your life: when faced with a responsibility, do not rush to complete it with blind efficiency. Instead, pause and ask: what am I truly learning here? What knowledge, what warning, what wisdom lies hidden beneath the surface? In so doing, you will not only accomplish your task but enlarge your spirit, carrying forward lessons that may one day serve not only you, but the world itself. For in the pursuit of justice, as in the pursuit of truth, there is always more to uncover than one first imagines.