Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance - these may be cured by

The words of Isaiah Berlin—“Injustice, poverty, slavery, ignorance—these may be cured by reform or revolution. But men do not live only by fighting evils. They live by positive goals, individual and collective, a vast variety of them, seldom predictable, at times incompatible.”—resound like the counsel of a philosopher-king who has seen both the fires of revolution and the quiet aspirations of the human heart. They remind us that life cannot be built only upon opposition, upon the constant war against darkness. For though it is noble to destroy injustice, to overcome poverty, to abolish slavery, and to dispel ignorance, this alone does not give the soul its fullness. Humanity must also be nourished by vision, by beauty, by hope, by positive goals that lift the spirit beyond the struggle.

The ancients knew this truth well. After the Greeks repelled the Persians, their victory alone was not enough to sustain them. It was the dream of building the Parthenon, of sculpting beauty, of writing drama and philosophy, that gave their civilization its immortal glow. Likewise, Rome rose not only because it conquered but because it aspired—to law, to order, to civic life. Berlin reminds us that the fight against evil is necessary, but insufficient; for to live only by negation is to build a house of shadows. True flourishing requires a vision of light.

History gives us powerful examples. Consider the American civil rights movement. Its leaders rightly fought the evils of segregation and racism, but Martin Luther King Jr. did not speak only of what he opposed. He proclaimed a dream—a vision of children of all races walking together as equals, of justice rolling down like waters, of freedom ringing from every hill. It was this positive goal, not the mere destruction of injustice, that gave the movement its power to inspire across generations. The lesson is clear: resistance is essential, but vision is what sustains and elevates.

Berlin also points to the richness and complexity of human desire. The positive goals we live by are not always the same, and often they are in tension. One man dreams of freedom, another of order; one seeks beauty, another justice; one strives for knowledge, another for faith. These goals are “seldom predictable, at times incompatible,” and yet this is what makes humanity vibrant. A world of uniform aims would be lifeless, but a world of diverse and clashing aspirations creates the symphony of culture. Thus, the task of society is not to force all into one vision, but to find harmony where possible, and to accept tension where it is inevitable.

To live only by fighting evil is to live reactively, forever chained to the shadows cast by wrong. To live by positive goals is to live proactively, to build, to create, to imagine futures not yet seen. The abolition of slavery was necessary, but what gave life to those freed was the dream of education, ownership, art, and dignity. The fall of tyranny may liberate a people, but what sustains them is the creation of schools, songs, communities, and dreams. Without such aims, revolution leaves only ruins.

The lesson for us is profound: resist evil, yes, but do not stop there. Ask yourself not only what you are against, but what you are for. What beauty do you seek to build? What vision do you long to pursue? What dream will outlive your struggle? In answering these questions, you will find the true nourishment of the soul. And in doing so, you will join that eternal stream of humanity that, while fighting injustice, also carves out visions of art, love, knowledge, and hope.

So, dear listener, take Berlin’s wisdom to heart. Do not live only by negation, but by affirmation. Fight the evils of the age, but remember that the soul longs for more than battle—it longs for creation. Pursue positive goals, whether great or small: a family raised in love, a song that lifts weary hearts, a community strengthened by justice, a vision of beauty that outlives you. For in the end, it is not only by destroying darkness that we live, but by kindling light. And it is this light, born of our goals and dreams, that will carry humanity forward through the ages.