They must change if they are to get better

Just came across this insightful quote from Georg Christoph Lichtenberg:

I cannot say whether things will get better if we change; what I can say is they must change if they are to get better.

Rather neatly sums up the diplomat's dilemma in the Middle East. What existed before was not great and we would wish it to be better. To get better, change must occur. We can't know that, even if there is change, it will end up better.

Here is another of his aphorisms for which he was famous.

Nothing is more conducive to peace of mind than not having any opinion at all.