“If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.”

This paraphrasing of the Cheshire Cat in Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland books is one of those instances where the misquote is more common than the original. The late Beatle and Nahiku resident George Harrison even used the amended line as the refrain of his song, “Any Road,” which was released posthumously on his solo album, “Brainwashed,” in 2002.

The story we heard is that Harrison was inspired to write the song when he spotted the observation on a handmade sign posted in a Hana friend’s plant nursery. In the song, Harrison seems to say that while it’s possible to go through the world without a plan, it is not necessarily the best way to run a life.

“But oh Lord we pay the price. With a spin of a wheel, the roll of a dice.”

The willy-nilly approach is certainly no way to run an island or a state. With Maui County and the State of Hawaii standing at such a vital crossroads, the course our leaders set on issues like housing, water, tourism, dealing with sea level rise and preserving the land and culture will have impacts felt by generations to come.

Some big decisions could impact, positively or negatively, every generation to come. Will we be fondly remembered as the post-pandemic society that gazed far into the future and charted a wise course, or will we be cursed as the shortsighted so-and-so’s who aimed the bus at the cliff?

No pressure, right? Even so, in this election year, we have candidates raising their hands and saying they are the ones to make these tough decisions, the ones to steer the bus.

This year’s election includes races for governor, lieutenant governor, Congress, the state Legislature, Maui County mayor and council. We applaud those who have tossed their hat into the ring and look forward to learning about their platforms. Hopefully, this election season sees a return to in-person debates, forums and meet-and-greets where we can hear what the candidates have to say and see how they think on their feet.

Politicians are quick to point out the things they are against. We’re interested in hearing what they stand for. What do they support and how do they propose to make it happen? Are they a one-issue candidate or do they have a wide-ranging vision for the community? Are they the type that will dig in their heels or can they work together and compromise?

We need leaders capable of addressing current challenges. They should also possess the wisdom to extrapolate how their decisions will affect Hawaii and its people many generations down the line.

Any road will take Maui to its future. The key is to know where we are going. Only then can we chart the best route to get us there.