Franzese, Paula A.

English

Seton Hall University Libraries

E PLURIBUS UNUM - FROM MANY, ONE: INUNITY THERE IS STRENGTHPaula A. Franzese*Law Day represents a magnificent opportunity to celebrateour legal system and our society of laws, as we reflect upon all ofthe good that has been accomplished. The theme of this year'sfestivities, "E Pluribus Unum," which means "From Many, One,"offers an occasion to honor the diversity of our heritage while salut-ing the strength that comes from our unity.It was on August 10, 1776, that the rather distinguished com-mittee of Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and John Adamsfirst proposed that the Latin phrase E Pluribus Unum be a part ofthe Great Seal of the United States. In fact, we actually see thephrase every day, although most of us seldom notice it. By law, itappears on every United States coin.Our national motto - Out of Many, One - symbolized the fed-eral union of the thirteen original states and captured the new re-public's spirit of tolerance, solidarity and liberty. E Pluribus Unumbecame, as time went on, an even more meaningful slogan, as thisnation attracted peoples of all lands, of all places and of all reli-gions, races and ethnic backgrounds.Yet, on this special Law Day, an occasion to salute our legalsystem while reflecting on the ideals of unity, we find ourselves incrisis. The tolerance and fellowship that our motto extols seems attimes to have surrendered to a society that has become increasinglyhostile, contentious, litigious and combative. People are turningagainst one another; people are turning against themselves.The soul of the law is suffering. A crisis of morale confrontsthe legal profession. Systemically, symptoms of this collective mal-aise are found in the oft-cited decline in civility among lawyers, thehigh incidence of depression suffered by attorneys and the ever-increasing, win at all cost battles fought both in and out of court.Many lawyers, particularly young attorneys, find with disappoint-ment that their chosen life's work odoes not have the meaning thatthey had hoped it would have.* Professor of Law, Seton Hall Law School. J.D., Columbia Law School, B.A., Bar-nard College, Columbia University. This essay represents excerpts of the keynote LawDay address delivered to the New Jersey Ocean County Bar Association on May 1,1995.1460SPEECHCompounding the legal profession's own internal struggle issociety's ever-growing distrust of the whole lot of us. The good thatis accomplished by many lawyers all too often tends to be over-looked by many observers, the popular media principal amongthem. Commentators warn that there are too many lawyers, andthat as a society we are suing ourselves into economic and institu-tional disaster. To add insult to injury, the profession is now fod-der for joke after joke after joke. From Jay Leno to RushLimbaugh to Geraldo, jabs at lawyers have become commonplace.The problems that confront us as attorneys and members ofthe legal community mirror the problems plaguing society at large.In our daily lives, our personal lives, we all too often find ourselvesexposed to uncivil aspects of exchange, with strangers, colleagues,and even friends treating one another with disrespect, ridicule, orindifference. Locally, nationally, and globally, the wars at home, inthe workplace, in the courtroom, and in the boardrooms have be-come the wars in the streets.Less than two weeks ago, a government building not unlikethe building we gather in today was decimated by an unthinkableact of terrorism, an act of unspeakable hatred, violence, and dis-unity, to say the very least. It was one thing for us to fear and toponder the threats posed by those abroad. It was quite another towatch in horror as CNN showed authorities surrounding a farm-house tucked in the middle of our nation's heartland. The tragedyin Oklahoma City forces us to reckon with what sorts of hatredsexist right here at home, right next door.In the midst of so much sorrow, grief, anger, despair, need,and greed, the temptation is to ask, with resignation, "How can Ipossibly change things? It's going to take a miracle." It is. So to-day, on Law Day, it seems most fitting to declare ourselves miracleworkers. Together, we are ushering in the twenty-first century. It isabout time for a change. And, if it is to be, it is up to us. All of us.Lawyer, judge, teacher, student, human being. Because all of usare teachers, guides, mentors, healers, gatekeepers. Yes, we areushering in the twenty-first century, equipping our children, allchildren, to do the same. To grow in stature, to harness the stuff ofmiracles - the power of love, we must prepare ourselves.That preparation begins first by going within. It is incumbentupon each of us to find the quiet time to ascertain and to definewhat we want, what we stand for, and what kind of a world we wantto live and serve in. As the philosopher Eric Heller once re-marked, "Be careful how you define the world, because it is just1461SETON HALL LAW REVIEWlike that. 1 We must take care in defining our vision and takingour stand, mindful that what we think about most expands. Whatwe think about we move towards. With our thoughts we create.With our thoughts we make the world. So we can choose to viewour context as something to endure, as a rat race, but, as Lily Tom-lin said, "The problem with the rat race is that, even if you win,you're still a rat." Or, we can choose to view our work and our livesas a gift, a privilege, an opportunity to act in furtherance of theonly two things that really matter: loving and learning.Terrible things happen. Things that we seem unable to con-trol happen. But what we can control are our reactions. What wecan control are our attitudes. What we can control are ourresponses.Experience isn't what happens to us. Experience is what wedo with what happens to us. Let us be certain then to check in andalways be sure that we are part of the solution.From Many, One. In unity there is true strength. Let us be ofone mind and of one heart, so that we despise nothing exceptmeanness and cowardice, so that we are governed by our admira-tions rather than disgusts, so that we are always on the side of car-ing, of healing, and of loving.This weekend my son and I watched The Lion King. As youprobably recall, in that movie the young Simba confronts his owncrisis of confidence, doubting his abilities and forgetting his innerstrength. At a critical turning point, the spirit of his late father,Mufasa, comes to him and says essentially, "My son, you are morethan you have become. Remember who you are, and take yourplace in the circle of life." This is such a powerful message. It isindeed up to us to realize that we are more than what we havebecome. It is up to us to remember who we are, and to take ourplace in that circle of life, mindful that it is a circle - perfect,whole, and complete, depending, for its very existence, on our tak-ing the hand of the brother and sister to our left and to our right.No matter our superficial differences, we find, when we are willingto listen, that the human heart speaks a single language. FromMany, One.As we remember who we are, we must determine what it is thatwe intend to achieve as a consequence. What kind of an impactare we having? What kind of an impact do we want to have? Ourlives are shaped most not by what we take with us, but by what we1 E. HELLER, THE DISINHERITED MIND (1979).1462 [Vol. 25:1460SPEECHleave behind. When all is said and done, how would we want to beremembered? What will we have left behind?Let us be clear about what we stand for. There is no suchthing as living a neutral life. Let us call upon our imaginations anddeepest vision in order to find our way to the kind of world that wewish to serve and the kind of people that we wish to be. Individu-ally as well as collectively, it behooves us to take the time to definethose attributes that we value most; those qualities that representthe best of who and what we are.The vision that we embrace should include a view of our cho-sen life's work as noble and honorable. As the Reverend MartinLuther King, Jr. said:If a person is called to be a streetsweeper, he should sweepstreets even as Michelangelo painted, or Beethoven composedmusic, or Shakespeare wrote poetry. He should sweep streets sowell that all the hosts of heaven and earth will pause to say, herelived a great streetsweeper who did his job well.Our collective vision finds us all healers. The true challenge isto recognize and to accept responsibility for this fact. We heal withour words and with our actions. In the face of so much that is to bedone, we heal with one loving thought and one loving impulse,one minute, one hour, one day at a time. Mother Teresa was onceasked, "Sister, how have you been able to accomplish such greatdeeds?" She replied, "There are no great deeds. Only small deedsdone with great love."We heal when we heed our inner wisdom, when we are true toourselves. I have always been inspired by Gandhi's life and legacy,a legacy created because he was true to his own voice. And I wasfascinated to learn that it wasn't always that way. As a youngster, hehad felt inferior because of the color of his skin and because of theschools he attended. So he journeyed to England, where he stud-ied to be a barrister, dressed in three-piece tweed suits, and studiedthe foxtrot. It wasn't until later, in India, that he dared to reclaimhimself, taking a stand for who he was and where he came from.He proceeded to define his vision carefully as well as mightily. Welive, he said, so that we might ease the pain of all feeling beings.And then the miracles unfolded.Gandhi's life also tells me that we heal when we seek thestrength to ask the right questions. To ask, what's in it for me?, isto be asking the wrong question. To ask, in the face of popularcynicism, suffering, and need, how can I possibly make a differ-ence?, is to ask the wrong question. Instead, it is up to us to ask,1995] 1463SETON HALL LAW REVIEWhow can I possibly dare not to? Edmund Burke said, "All that isnecessary for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing."There is no such thing as living a neutral life. Each of us is power-ful, no matter what we have ever been told to the contrary.Do not empower the naysayers, the critics, the negativethoughts, the self-doubts. Let us promise to never allow our part-nership with anyone to silence our voice, or keep us from assistinganother person in using hers or his. To cower as a consequence ofthe assessments of others, or because of self-defeating thoughts, isto betray ourselves. It is to surrender. We cannot let that happen.There is too much to be done, and too many people, so many ofthem as yet nameless and unknown, who are counting on us.There is the proverb of the boy on the beach. The tide precip-itously pulls out, leaving thousands of starfish stranded on theshore. If not thrown back, they will dry up and die. The boy be-gins picking them up, one at a time, and throwing them back tosea. A man comes by, and says, "Hey, give it up. There arethousands of them out here. You can't possibly make a difference.It doesn't matter what you do." The boy looks down at the starfishhe is about to throw back in and replies, "But it does matter to thisstarfish."Let us be happy, then, for the starfish now in our hands. Letus seek the wisdom and the courage to see that it is there. Toknow, as Emerson said, that one life has breathed easier becausewe have lived - let that be the measure of our success. Let us begrateful for this opportunity to serve. And let us be happy for thislife. It is a precious gift. Let us embrace this moment, and eachmoment to come, as if our lives, and countless other lives, de-pended on it. Because they do.Let us recapture the hopefulness, the wonder, and the inno-cence that may have been misplaced somewhere along the way. Ithas been said that the future is in the hands of those who can givetomorrow's generation valid reasons to live and to hope. If that isso, we hold the future in our hands.I have always been touched by the story of the parent who hastwo children, one of them an avowed optimist, happy no matter hiscircumstances, and the other an avowed pessimist, miserable mostof the time. The parent, trying to bring both children back tocenter, fills the pessimist's room with all of the toys and gamesknown to delight even the fussiest child. In the room of the opti-mist, although he hates to have to do it, the parent places tons ofhorse manure. The dad waits tens minutes or so, and then yen-1464 [Vol. 25:1460tures into the pessimist's room, only to find his child standing inthe comer, arms folded in front of him, scowling as he says to hisparent, "Father, how dare you patronize me with these petty offer-ings?" The father sadly shrugs, and proceeds to enter the room ofthe optimist. There, he is astonished to find his child gleefullywhistling while at work, busily spraying Lysol and shoveling themanure into a corner. The parent, in amazement asks, "My son, inthe midst of all this, how can you maintain such a cheerful counte-nance?" The boy replies, "Daddy, don't you get it? With all thishorse manure, there must be a pony!"With our hearts and minds wide open, let's find those ponies.Let'sjoin together, help each other, teach each other, and be goodto each other. Luciano de Crescenzo, the Italian writer, said, "Weare each of us angels with only one wing. And we only fly when weembrace each other."Let us embrace each other, so that together we nurturestrength of spirit and peace of mind. We will need that strength.Together, we are going to usher in one of the most importantbreakthroughs in history. A breakthrough where all of us, womanand man, teacher and learner, parent and child, reach the top ofthe mountain - not alone, not because we have had to becomesomething we are not, and not because we have pushed someoneelse off.Let us vow to continue to share our bounty of opportunity andinfluence and power and goodwill. Success is infinite and it is con-tagious. There is enough room for all of us at the top. But none ofus will get there, and stay there, unless all of us get there and staythere.This breakthrough that we will usher in depends upon ourhaving the courage to liberate the gentler virtues that reside withinour hearts - the attributes of sensitivity, nurturance, intuitiveness,compassion, and caring. We must encourage the development andliberation of these values in the people we live and work with. Thisis not always easy, and we are apt to be misunderstood in the pro-cess. We serve a world that for too long has relied on domination,control, aggression, competitiveness, and manipulation as the pri-mary ingredients for success. Gentleness, by contrast, is often mis-taken for weakness. But we know better. And by our example, weteach. We teach that gentleness is to be expected only from thestrong. Cruelty comes from the weak.The breakthrough that we will usher in requires that we wearon our sleeves our goodness, our integrity and our commitment to1995] SPEECH 1465SETON HALL LAW REVIEWexcellence. It challenges us to live our message and to empowerothers to do the same. It depends upon our continuing to choosethe path of caring and peacemaking in our approach to each otherand our endeavors; it asks that we be the voice of reason, even inthe midst of seeming chaos, and that we introduce love, even in theface of adversity.Love is a choice. This possibility of choosing to love is whatmakes our having free will worth the risk of its abuse. In the daysand months and years ahead, as the road diverges, it will be up tous to ask, "Does this path have a heart? Is this an honorablecourse?" Let us hope that we will always have the wisdom to choosethat course, and the strength to take others with us. Our doing sowill go on to transform for the better the shape of this world, farmore than any courtroom or boardroom victory ever could.Teilhard deChardin said that the day will come when, aftermastering the wind, the waves, the tides and gravity, "we shall fi-nally harness for God the energies of love. And on that day, for thesecond time in the history of the world, we will have discoveredfire." Let us work to see that day come, notwithstanding the dis-tractions and many temptations to do otherwise.As the Council of Bishops proclaimed:Yes, people can be mean and cruel and irresponsible. Lovethem anyway.What you're building today may be torn down tomorrow.Build it anyway.If you commit to goodness and to the way of love, you maybe accused of false piety. Commit to goodness anyway.If you endeavor to help others, you may be resented for it.Help anyway.And if you give this world the best that you've got, strivingto serve the nobler ends ofjustice and fairness, you will feel painand fatigue in the process. But give it your best anyway.This is our imperative. It is our mission, and I know that it willbe our legacy. As George Bernard Shaw wrote, "I want to be thor-oughly used up when I die."2 When all is done, let it be said thatwe were thoroughly used up. Shaw continued: "Life is no shortcandle for me. It is, instead, a splendid torch, which I have in myhands for this brief moment. I must make it bum as brightly aspossible before I hand it to the future."' That torch is in ourhands. I feel proud and privileged to be carrying it with you.2 GEORGE B. SHAW, MAN AND SUPERMAN (1941).3 Id.1466

E Pluribus Unum - From Many, One: In Unity There is Strength

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E Pluribus Unum - From Many, One: In Unity There is Strength

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