There's no wrong time to make the right decision.

Dalton McGuinty, speaking as a leader tempered by the weight of responsibility, once declared: “There’s no wrong time to make the right decision.” In this brief yet resounding phrase lies a lesson as old as humanity: that truth, justice, and integrity are not bound by clocks or calendars. Whenever the heart awakens to what is just, that moment becomes the appointed hour. Delay may waste time, but to act rightly—even if late—is always to step onto the path of honor.

The meaning of this teaching is that fear and hesitation often whisper to us that the time is not yet ripe—that we must wait, that the season is not favorable, that perhaps tomorrow will be easier. Yet wisdom reveals the opposite: the right decision is timeless. Whether spoken in the freshness of youth or in the twilight of age, whether acted upon at the dawn of crisis or after years of delay, it is never wrong to choose what is true, what is kind, what is just. The only error is to refuse it altogether.

History gives us luminous examples. Consider Abraham Lincoln, who signed the Emancipation Proclamation in the midst of civil war. Many counseled delay, arguing that the time was not right, that unity must come before liberation. But Lincoln knew there is no wrong time to make the right decision. By striking when he did, though imperfectly and incompletely, he set the course toward freedom for millions. The war raged on, but a seed of justice had been planted, one that could not be uprooted.

Or think of Mahatma Gandhi, who chose to rise in peaceful resistance against the British Empire. To many, his timing seemed impossible—the empire too strong, the Indian people too divided. Yet Gandhi’s choice was not bound by circumstance. By making the right decision to embrace nonviolence, he awakened a moral force greater than any army. His life showed that courage sanctifies the hour, no matter how dark the surrounding night.

The lesson for us is clear: do not wait endlessly for perfect conditions to do what is right. Do not tell yourself, “When I am stronger, when I am richer, when I am ready, then I will act.” For such reasoning is the voice of delay, and delay is the ally of regret. To forgive, to speak truth, to stand for justice, to change one’s path—these things are always right, and thus can never be done at the wrong time.

In practice, this means acting today where you know what must be done. If reconciliation is needed, do not wait for tomorrow’s dawn—seek peace now. If a harmful habit grips you, do not promise yourself another month—begin the change now. If kindness can be offered, do not hold it back until the season is favorable—give it now. Every day is the proper day to make the right decision, and every hour is the sacred hour to choose the better path.

Thus, children of tomorrow, take to heart McGuinty’s wisdom: there is no wrong time for the right choice. The world will tell you to wait, to postpone, to compromise with injustice or with fear. But you, if you would live as one of the wise, must silence that voice and step boldly into truth. For every right act, whenever done, is a seed of light sown against the darkness. And though the fruit may not appear at once, its roots will reach eternity, and its harvest will be remembered long after the hours of hesitation are forgotten.