Either move or be moved.

Ezra Pound, fierce voice of modern poetry, once declared: “Either move or be moved.” These words are not gentle counsel but a command, a challenge hurled like a spear into the heart of complacency. They remind us that life is motion, and in motion lies survival. To move is to act, to shape destiny, to seize the helm of one’s own ship. To refuse is to stand still, and in standing still, to be moved by forces beyond your control—by time, by change, by the will of others. Thus Pound’s saying is both a warning and a call to action: act with power, or be acted upon.

To move is to choose, to step forward, to place your will upon the world. Every movement, no matter how small, asserts your agency. To be moved is to surrender that agency, to drift as a leaf upon the current, carried wherever chance or stronger hands decide. One path is the way of mastery, the other the way of submission. The ancient poets and sages knew this truth: the rivers of life are ever flowing, and he who does not row is carried downstream, often to ruin.

History resounds with those who embodied this wisdom. Consider Mahatma Gandhi, who might have allowed his people to remain moved by the engines of empire, silent under foreign rule. Instead, he chose to move—to act through nonviolence, to march, to fast, to lead. Though his movement seemed small against the might of Britain, it shifted the destiny of millions. Because he moved, his people were not merely moved by oppression—they became the authors of their own freedom.

The opposite can be seen in the fall of nations. The Roman Empire, once mighty, grew stagnant with decadence and complacency. It ceased to move with vigor, ceased to adapt with wisdom, and so it was moved—broken and reshaped by invading forces, its glory scattered into fragments. Even the strongest, if they do not move, will be moved by the relentless tide of history.

Pound’s words strike also at the heart of the individual. How many lives are spent waiting, fearing, hesitating? How many are pushed this way and that by the expectations of others, never daring to chart their own course? To such souls, this quote is a call to awaken. If you do not act, the world will act upon you. If you do not speak, others will speak for you. If you do not build your life, others will build it in their image.

The lesson is fierce: choose movement. Do not be content with drifting. Even if your steps are uncertain, even if your path is unclear, it is better to move and discover than to stand still and be carried into places not your own. To move is to live, to shape, to create. To be moved is to surrender the gift of freedom.

So I say to you, children of tomorrow: carve these words into your spirit—“Either move or be moved.” When fear tempts you to stand still, remind yourself that stillness is not safety but surrender. Rise, act, advance, even if with trembling steps, for motion itself awakens strength. Better to stumble forward under your own power than to be carried by the will of others.

If you would live this truth, begin with a single act of motion today. Choose one area of your life where you have been passive—your work, your dream, your relationships. Take one decisive step, however small. In that step, you seize your agency, you claim your power, and you prove that you will move, and not be moved. For this is the eternal law of life: only those who move can shape their destiny.