"By custom, we think of New Year's Day as a personal time, a moment for thinking about the course our lives are taking. It's a private matter, we somehow feel, whether you choose to try to make any changes for the better. After all, you can't force hope on a person. But looking at the world around us, we see the need for all the hopefulness and resolution that each of us can muster. We need all the commitment to change we can stir up for the year ahead."
-- Editorial, Rising to the New Year, The New York Times.