Multiplication of Courage

“One of our most effective coping skills is simply sticking together. In a 2011 New Yorker article called “Social Animal,” David Brooks writes, “Research over the past thirty years makes it clear that what the inner mind really wants is connection . . . Joining a group that meets just once a month produces the same increase in happiness as doubling your income.”
― Mary Pipher, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

“Working together, we were experiencing what Nelson Mandela called “the multiplication of courage.”
― Mary Pipher, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

When people come together, they can accomplish more than they can by individual actions. With this transformation from “me” to “we,” the wind picks up, the sails fill, and the boat is off. . .
― Mary Pipher, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

“Coalition members learned to make our points via stories. It is impossible to argue with a story that simply reflects the experience of the storyteller. People like stories and remember them. They create emotions that are essential to motivation and action. Emotions, not facts, are what energize humans to act. Our best stories were about our own inconsistencies and failings or about our own emotional struggles with the issue.”
― Mary Pipher, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

“This bittersweet phenomenon of a successful event paired with no discernible political gain seemed to be a chronic problem for our group. However, we were experiencing a victory that could not be taken away from us. That is, we were by now a transcendent, connected community. We were learning that relationships always trump agendas, and that a good process is sustaining, regardless of outcome.”
― Mary Pipher, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture

“I do it for the relationships. I like to spend my time with people who are trying to make the world a fairer, kinder place. I’ve been in groups like this since college, and they have made me happy.”
― Mary Pipher, The Green Boat: Reviving Ourselves in Our Capsized Culture