All deeds aren’t equal, and some missteps aren’t offset by a number of efforts. Yes for Paterno there was the number of wins, the assent of education, the lives he molded, and the consistent integrity amend the cesspool of college athletics. But there was also inaction when outrage was required and silence when a brave voice was needed most.

How do you defend a leader after all, even a legendary one that fails to lead.

There are times when it is hard to believe in the future, when we are temporarily just not brave enough. When this happens, concentrate on the present. Cultivate le petit bonheur (the little happiness) until courage returns. Look forward to the beauty of the next moment, the next hour, the promise of a good meal, sleep, a book, a movie, the likelihood that tonight the stars will shine and tomorrow the sun will shine. Sink roots into the present until the strength grows to think about tomorrow.

There are thousands and thousands of people out there living lives of quiet, screaming desperation who work long, hard hours, at jobs they hate, to enable them to buy things they don’t need to impress people they don’t like.

I know what I’ve done for music, but don’t call me a legend. Just call me Miles Davis.

(via blackgirlphresh)