Hope… is a decision. It is the most important decision we can make. Hope changes everything, starting with our lives. Hope is the force that enables us to make our dreams come true.
– Daisaku Ikeda
These essays by Soka Gakkai International (SGI) President Daisaku Ikeda bequeath us his prescriptions for maintaining hope in difficult times when it seems more natural to despair. Having lived through the tragedies of a world torn apart by World War II — in which he lost a brother — a steady descent into poverty, and a relentless battle with ill health, President Ikeda’s own life is a shining example of the power of deciding for hope.