6 thoughts:

Tear down walls of ignorance and narrow mindedness for nothing has to stay as it is

Take joint action in the interest of the multilateral global world

Keep asking yourselves: am I doing something because it is right or because it is possible?

Don’t forget that freedom is never something that can be taken for granted

Surprise yourselves with what is possible

Remember that openness always involves risk

Letting go of the old is part of the new beginning

Nothing can be taken for granted, everything is possible.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel at the end of her #Harvard19 Commencement address

A few other excerpts, may they be an invitation to listen or to reflect …

Nothing has to stay the way it is. Anything that seems to be set in stone can be changed

Nothing can be taken for granted, our individual liberties are not givens, democracy is not something we can take for granted, neither is peace nor prosperity

If we break down the walls that hem us in, if we step out into the open and have the courage to embrace new beginnings, everything is possible.

Am I doing something because it is right or because it is possible? Are we laying down the rules for technology or is technology dictating how we interact?

If we respect other people’s history, traditions, identity, if we hold fast to our inalienable values and act in accordance with them, and if we don’t always act on our first impulses even if thee is pressure to make a snap decision, but instead take a moment to stop, be still, think, pause. Granted that certainly takes courage. Above all, it calls for truthfulness for our attitude towards others. And perhaps most importantly, it calls us to be honest with ourselves … That requires us not to describe lies as truth or truth as lies

Every day, I had to turn away from freedom at the last minute