Here's Pete. He's now 90, and still loves to tell stories.
Here's the story, as told by Pete Seeger in “Where Have All the Flowers Gone” (Sing Out, 1993):
I've been surprised by some good things happening in my lifetime. Sometimes quite suddenly.
Imagine a big see-saw, with a basketful of rocks sitting on one end. That end is down on the ground. At the other end, up in the air, is a basket half full of sand. Some of us are trying to fill it, using teaspoons. Most folks laugh at us. “Don't you know the sand is leaking out even as you put it in?”
We say, that's true, but we're getting more people with teaspoons all the time. One of these days that basket of sand will be full up and you'll see this whole see-saw just tip the opposite way. People will say, “Gee, how did it happen so suddenly?”
Us, and our little teaspoons.