"...There is a wonderful phrase I have heard Sari Nusseibeh say:"Optimism is not an option, it is an ethical duty."
My own way of saying more or less the same is the following. If a huge fire is burning, you can run for your life and let those who cannot run burn. You can wag your finger at the blaze and demand inquiry and resignations. Or you can fill a bucket, a glass, at least a teaspoon of water, and pour it on the flames. The fire is huge, the teaspoon is vary small, but every man and woman has a teaspoon.
I would like to establish "the Order of the Teaspoon". Each of us, who share this hope, will wear a tiny teaspoon on their lapel. So that we know. Let us not only remember the best and hope for the best, but do our best."
-Amos Oz, "How to Cure a Fanatic"