"It is well to be prepared for life as it is, but it is better to be prepared to make life better than it is"

Preparation is often regarded as an essential ingredient for success, allowing individuals to handle the unpredictabilities of daily circumstances. Sargent Shriver’s perspective, however, makes an important distinction between merely coping with life’s realities and actively striving to improve those realities. Rather than adopting a passive approach that simply accepts conditions as they are, there is greater value in fostering skills and mindsets that contribute to progress and constructive change.

The sentiment acknowledges that a certain level of resilience and readiness is necessary; individuals do need to adapt to their environments and learn how to function effectively within the world as it exists. Yet, limiting oneself to adaptation alone can perpetuate the status quo, seldom addressing the underlying issues or seizing opportunities for meaningful growth. Shriver suggests that true preparation does not stop at accommodating what already exists; it goes further, equipping people to question, innovate, and reshape their circumstances.

This approach places agency and responsibility on each person, inviting them to look beyond personal comfort or survival. Rather than being confined by limitations or obstacles, individuals are called to develop capacities such as empathy, critical thinking, creativity, and collaboration. These attributes empower people to identify needs, envision alternatives, and translate their aspirations into action, thus contributing not just to their own wellbeing, but to the collective good.

Humankind’s greatest achievements, progress in human rights, advances in science and technology, transformations in social structures, have sprung from people who prepared to do more than face life passively. They imagined a different reality, and took steps to manifest it. Shriver’s words challenge every generation to cultivate ambition not just for oneself, but for the world. By preparing to make life better, each person becomes a participant in the continual reimagining and betterment of society, rather than merely an accepter of fate.