they cannot supply courage itself – each must look into their own soul
Adapted from the passage in the book, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy (New York: Harper & Brothers. 1055), where the author writes:
To be courageous, these stories make clear, requires no exceptional qualifications, no magic formula, no special combination of time, place and circumstance.
It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all.
Politics merely furnishes one arena which imposes special tests of courage.
In whatever arena of life one may meet the challenge of courage, whatever may be the sacrifices he faces if he follows his conscience—the loss of his friends, his fortune, his contentment, even the esteem of his fellow men—each man must decide for himself the course he will follow.
The stories of past courage can define that ingredient—they can teach, they can offer hope, they can provide inspiration.
But they cannot supply courage itself.
For this each man must look into his own soul.
It is an opportunity that sooner or later is presented to us all.
life lives less in the present than in future, less in both together
Age saw two quiet children Go loving by at twilight, He knew not whether homeward, Or outward from the village, Or (chimes were ringing) churchward. He waited (they were strangers) Till they were out of hearing To bid them both be happy. “Be happy, happy, happy, And seize the day of pleasure.” The age-long theme is Age’s. ’Twas Age imposed on poems Their gather-roses burden To warn against the danger That overtaken lovers From being overflooded With happiness should have it And yet not know they have it. But bid life seize the present? It lives less in the present Than in the future always, And less in both together Than in the past. The present Is too much for the senses, Too crowding, too confusing— Too present to imagine.
Carpe Diem by Robert Frost as published in The Witness Tree (Henry Holt: New York, 1943).
With happiness should have it and yet not know they have it.
Why do spend so much time wanting what we don’t have and not even understanding what we do have?
Always remember … carpe diem, quam minimum credula postero is the complete quote from the poet Horace.
Or …
Seize the present; trust tomorrow e’en as little as you may.
Way I heard it was … seize the day … for tomorrow a new day comes.
compromise their principles has lost very freedom of conscience
Adapted from the passage in the book, Profiles in Courage by John F. Kennedy (New York: Harper & Brothers. 1055), where the author writes:
These, then, are some of the pressures which confront a man of conscience.
He cannot ignore the pressure groups, his constituents, his party, the comradeship of his colleagues, the needs of his family, his own pride in office, the necessity for compromise and the importance of remaining in office.
He must judge for himself which path to choose, which step will most help or hinder the ideals to which he is committed.
He realizes that once he begins to weigh each issue in terms of his chances for re-election, once he begins to compromise away his principles on one issue after another for fear that to do otherwise would halt his career and prevent future fights for principle, then he has lost the very freedom of conscience which justifies his continuance in office.
But to decide at which point and on which issue he will risk his career is a difficult and soul-searching decision.
Lets say that one sentence again.
He realizes that once he begins to weigh each issue in terms of his chances for re-election,
once he begins to compromise away his principles on one issue after another for fear that to do otherwise would halt his career and prevent future fights for principle,
… then he has lost the very freedom of conscience which justifies his continuance in office.
Lets go that one part.
Once he begins to compromise away his principles on one issue after another …
Then he has lost the very freedom of conscience which justifies his continuance in office.
this didn’t open my eyes – his words had drawn me into his madness
“In the spring of 1937,” he [Albert Speer] said, “Hitler said something to me that should have made me realize the extent of his megalomania.
He came to my Berlin showrooms to look at the seven-foot-high model of the stadium.
Talking about the Olympic Games, I pointed out to him that the athletic field did not conform to the proportions prescribed by the Olympic Committee. ‘
That’s immaterial,’ said Hitler.
‘In 1940 the Games will be held in Tokyo, but after that, for all time to come, they will take place in Germany, in this stadium.
And then it is we who will prescribe the necessary dimensions.’
“Thinking of this later, it was almost incredible to me that this didn’t open my eyes.
I was after all a sportsman, passionately interested in the Olympic Games since childhood, and I knew perfectly well that the whole universal concept of the event presupposed a change of venue every four years.
How could he have thought he could bend the powerful world of sports to his will?
How could he have wanted it?
How could I not have realized that day that he was mad?
Well, I didn’t;
I can almost still see myself smiling in admiration at his prophetic words.
He had drawn me into his madness.”
From Albert Speer: His Battle with Truth by Gitta Sereny (Knopf: New York, 1995).
Albert Speer – The good Nazi
To repeat, “How could I not have realized that day that he was mad? Well, I didn’t; I can almost still see myself smiling in admiration at his prophetic words. He had drawn me into his madness.
Sounds like a lines from a whole batch of upcoming explain-it-all biographies that will be written in the next 10 to 20 to 30 years.
After the war, Speer was among the 24 major war criminal defendantscharged by the International Military Tribunal for Nazi atrocities. He was found guilty of war crimes and crimes against humanity, principally for the use of slave labor, narrowly avoiding a death sentence. Having served his full term, Speer was released in 1966. He used his writings from the time of imprisonment as the basis for two autobiographical books, Inside the Third Reich and Spandau: The Secret Diaries. Speer’s books were a success; the public was fascinated by the inside view of the Third Reich he provided. He died of a stroke in 1981.
find a crystal sea ran along with skip jump at random, fancy-free
Always the world has ever been A fairy-land to me. No road was just a common road No tree a common tree.
Each road was an enchanted trail To find a crystal sea I ran along with skip and jump At random, fancy-free.
About each tree-trunk hung a spell Whose pebbles, bits of glass In hidden nests were images To bring my dreams to pass.
I never went a-journeying But that I ended lost, For I sped down the avenue A-flame and fancy-tossed.
Ah me! my life has ever been A fragment from a jest Torn from the tangled web of dreams That gossamer my breast.
Dream Life by Georgia Douglas Johnson as published in The selected works of Georgia Douglas Johnson by Georgia Douglas Johnson (New York: G.K. Hall, 1997).
According to Wikipedia: Georgia Douglas Johnson (September 10, 1880 – May 15, 1966), was an American poet and playwright. She was one of the earliest female African-American playwrights, and an important figure of the Harlem Renaissance.
Throughout her life, Johnson wrote 200 poems, 28 plays and 31 short stories. In 1962, she published her last poetry book, entitled Share My World, the poems in which reflect on love towards all people and forgiveness, showing how much wisdom she has gained throughout her entire life.
