<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=us-ascii"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class=""><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class="">It Is I Who Must Begin</span></div><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">It is I who must begin.</span></div><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">Once I begin, once I try --</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">here and now,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">right where I am,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">not excusing myself</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">by saying things</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">would be easier elsewhere,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">without grand speeches and</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">ostentatious gestures,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">but all the more persistently</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">-- to live in harmony</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">with the "voice of Being," as I</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">understand it within myself</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">-- as soon as I begin that,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">I suddenly discover,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">to my surprise, that</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">I am neither the only one,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">nor the first,</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">nor the most important one</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">to have set out</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">upon that road.</span></div></span></div><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""> </span></p><div style="margin: 0px; text-align: center; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">Whether all is really lost</span></div><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">or not depends entirely on</span></div><div style="text-align: left;" class=""><span style="-webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class="">whether or not I am lost.</span></div></span></div><p style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><span style="font-kerning: none" class=""> </span></p><div style="text-align: left; margin: 0px; line-height: normal; -webkit-text-stroke-color: rgb(0, 0, 0); -webkit-text-stroke-width: initial;" class=""><span style="-webkit-font-kerning: none;" class=""><span class="Apple-tab-span" style="white-space:pre"> </span>- Vaclav Havel</span></div></body></html>