“Do not conceive that fine Clothes make fine Men, any more than fine feathers make fine Birds.” —George Washington (1783)
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First Principles: Do Not Conceive That Fine Clothes Make Fine Men, Any More Than Fine Feathers Make Fine Birds
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Admired, Conceive, Credit, Dress, Eyes, Fine Birds, Fine Clothes, Fine Feathers, Fine Men, First Principles, Genteel, George Washington, Judicious, Plain, Sensible
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Thought For the Day: Talk Not of Wasted Affection; Affection Never Was Wasted
“Talk not of wasted affection; affection never was wasted.” – Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, poet (27 Feb 1807-1882)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Affection, Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Never, Talk, Thought For the Day, Wasted, Wasted Affection
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A Servant of His People
A Servant of His People
by Michael Doyle
My hat is off to Volodymyr Zelensky
As with his courage, he steps into history
He has consistently proven his fitness
As the heroic man becomes a remarkable witness
Once a comedian who commanded laughter
He has proven himself a worthy character
A humble everyman fights the tyranny of corruption
Then suddenly a role becomes his life's disruption
Some had treated this with suspicious derision
Frightened of the chance of emotional manipulation
But now as he is subjected to the worse of stress tests
Zelensky has proven himself above contest
With a single statement uttered in utmost grace
As with courage, he has humbly taken his embrace
With a prayer that he and his nation will persevere
He quietly states that for now he is still here
But tomorrow, Russia may soon take away his life
Yet, he will not submit cowardly before this strife
Today, a diminutive man stands at least ten feet tall
And will not stumble; nor does he plan his own fall
The fight is there and what he needs is ammunition
Living for tomorrow is not his greatest ambition
And while a tyrant threatens his death as imminent
Zelensky's character is and will remain preeminent
With great humility and without any wrongful pride
The Ukrainian president refuses an American ride
Rising from a metropolis of blast furnaces, he is the fire
Forged and burning bright willing one Ukraine as his desire
Blood and soil is not a cause now for any detachment
But rather in validation of the growth of his attachment
Zelensky chooses not to shake before the historic antecedent
Willing to die if need be as shown in this week's precedent
With this step he erases the gap between the elite
And the everyday Ukrainian people filling the street
Bodies and bicycles thrown before oncoming Russian tanks
Zelensky shows fortitude, staying with grace and in thanks
Willing to suffer the same terror and coming deprivation
Sealing his fate and soul forever with the Ukrainian nation
In his service to the people, Zelensky is a living inspiration
In service to his people and the Ukraine nation
(c) February 26, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ambition, American Ride, Ammunition, Attachment, Blood and Soil, Bodies and Bicycles, Character, Courage, Deprivation, Diminutive Man, Elite, Embrace, Fall, Fate, Fight, Fire, Fitness, Fortitude, Gap, Grace, Historic Antecedent, Humble Everyman, Humility, Imminent, Life, Living Inspiration, Manipulation, One Ukraine, People, Persevere, Poetry and Poems, Prayer, Preeminent, President, Pride, Proven, Russia, Russian Tanks, Seal, Servant, Single Statement, Soul, Step, Still Here, Street, Stress Test, Strife, Stumble, Suffering Fool, Suspicion, Ten Feet Tall, Terror, Thanks, Tomorrow, Tyranny of Corruption, Ukrainian Nation, Ukrainian People, Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelensky, Willing To Die, Witness
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Inseparable
Inseparable
by Michael Doyle
A black orphan
Grown to be an honest intellectual
Child of the Jim Crow South
He sought after what's effectual
Emancipation is what makes America unique
The 1619 Project
Is one of breathtaking ignorance
Slavery does not
And did not bring prosperity
And the fight against this is one of joint legacy
Now is the time for real bravery
Asserting truth above popularity
Intellectual honesty points forward
While fingers of blame are backward
It shouldn't be the outlier that stands up
Reality versus rhetoric
Is always the first step
In reconciling our future together
For worse or for the better
Solutions must be married to truth
...inseparable
(c) February 26, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged America, Backward, Better, Black Orphan, Blame, Bravery, Breathtaking Ignorance, Child, Effectual, Emancipation, Fight, Fingers, First Step, Forward, Future, Honest Intellectual, Inseparable, Intellectual Honesty, Jim Crow South, Joint Legacy, Married, Outlier, Poetry and Poems, Popularity, Prosperity, Reality, Reconcile, Rhetoric, Slavery, Solutions, Sought, The 1619 Project, Together, Truth, Unique, Worse
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First Principles: We Are All Qualified, Entitled, and Morally Obligated To Evaluate the Conduct of Our Rulers
“Any single man must judge for himself whether circumstances warrant obedience or resistance to the commands of the civil magistrate; we are all qualified, entitled, and morally obliged to evaluate the conduct of our rulers.” – English philosopher John Locke (1632-1704)
It seems that many of the Left have forgotten these first and most principled ideas fundamental to liberty, haven’t they? In countries like Russia, as with all countries, these principles still ring true. I am very proud as a human of my fellow humanity who are protesting in Russia against Putin’s war against Ukraine. Even more dignified are the Ukrainians for standing up against Russia’s “minor incursion”. We Americans should be protesting that our president uttered those words on television that virtually guaranteed that Putin would press forward. At this time, we are all Ukrainian! The pursuit of freedom and liberty is not confined to one people or one nation. When it is attacked, we are all attacked.
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Circumstances, Civil Magistrate, Commands, Conduct, Entitled, Evaluate, First Principles, John Locke, Judge, Morally, Obedience, Obligated, Qualified, Resistance, Rulers, Single Man, Warrant
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Thought For the Day: It Is Impossible To Live Pleasurably Without Living Prudently, Honorably, and Justly; Or To Live Prudently, Honorably, and Justly, Without Living Pleasurably
“It is impossible to live pleasurably without living prudently, honorably, and justly; or to live prudently, honorably, and justly, without living pleasurably.” -Epicurus, philosopher (c. 341-270 BCE
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Epicurus, Honor, Impossible, Just, Live, Plesasure, Prudent, Thought For the Day
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Until My Eyes Close
Until My Eyes Close
by Michael Doyle
The other day, I was so tired
It seemed my life was a tear
And though the coffee kept me fired
My heart felt troubled and insincere
Like I wished that I could find an exit
From this highway, I keep driving
Hoping for a miracle to fix it
Instead of pushing on, barely surviving
With my head a mile high in the clouds
It seems I cannot get any higher
With my heart in music that enshrouds
The candle of my life burns with its fire
Trying so hard just to get some sleep
Pushing back memories that keep coming
In a death of promises, I cannot keep
The heaviness crumbles into something numbing
Until my eyes close as if on their own
In a tiredness melt down from my bones -
(c) February 25, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Barely Surviving, Burn, Candle, Close, Clouds, Coffee, Crumbles, Death, Driving, Enshrouds, Exit, Eyes, Fire, Fired, Fix It, Head, Heart, Heaviness, Higher, Highway, Hope, Insincere, Keep, Life, Melt Down, Memories, Miracle, Music, My Bones, My Life, Numbing, Other Day, Poetry and Poems, Promises, Pushing Back, Pushing On, Sleep, Tear, Tired, Tiredness, Troubled, Trying So Hard, Wish
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First Principles: It Is the Manners and Spirit of A People Which Preserve A Republic In Vigor
“It is the manners and spirit of a people which preserve a republic in vigor. A degeneracy in these is a canker which soon eats to the heart of its laws and constitution.” – Thomas Jefferson (1781)
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Canker, Constitution, Degeneracy, First Principles, Heart, Laws, manners, People, Preserve, Republic, Spirit, Thomas Jefferson, Vigor
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Thought For the Day: Toward No Crimes Have Men Shown Themselves So Cold-Bloodedly Cruel As In Punishing Differences of Opinion
“Toward no crimes have men shown themselves so cold-bloodedly cruel as in punishing differences of opinion.” – James Russell Lowell (1819-1891)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Crime, Cruel, Differences, James Russell Lowell, Men, Opinion, Punish, Shown, Thought For the Day, Toward
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Sowell
Sowell
by Michael Doyle
Constrained
Or unconstrained
The views of mankind
Are a spectrum
In which we find
Two paths
Of social theory
Knowledge of the decisions
That make up an economy
Factored in their controversy
The question
Needed to be answered
Is what truly helps anyone?
What makes for improvement
Improves the world for everyone
It's not a question
Of either black or either white
It is the differences
Between what's wrong or right
That should be enough
What should matter for policy
Is does it work
Not does it sound good
If it doesn't work for the economy
There is no color that matters but green
Socialism in its sounding good
Is utopian ... and of no real use
Talking of past wrongs
In the middle of a globe of present wrongs
Is nothing but a plea for a return to reason
(c) February 24, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Answered, Color, Constrained, Controversy, Decisions, Differences, Economy, Everyone, Factored, Find, Globe, Green, Help, Improvement, Improves, Knowledge, Mankind, Past Wrongs, Plea, Poetry and Poems, Policy, Present Wrongs, Question, Return to Reason, Social Theory, Socialism, Sound Good, Sowell, Spectrum, Two Paths, Unconstrained, Utopian, Views, Work
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