“Live among men as if God beheld you; speak with God as if men were listening.” – Lucius Annaeus Seneca (4 BC-AD 65)
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First Principles: Live Among Men As If God Beheld You; Speak With God As If Men Were Listening
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Among, First Principles, God, Listen, Live, Mankind, Men, Seneca the Younger, Speak, You
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Thought For the Day: The Theory of the Communists May Be Summed Up In the Single Sentence: Abolition of Private Property….Take Away the Heritage of A People and They Are Easily Destroyed
“The theory of the Communists may be summed up in the single sentence: Abolition of private property. … Take away the heritage of a people and they are easily destroyed.” – Karl Marx, Communist Manifesto (1848)
On the Altar of My Life
On the Altar of My Life
by Michael Doyle
In every moment, even or odd
You put me together, Lord God
In every flaw and every break
You have eased every single ache
You have shown me the truth
Lived every moment since my youth
Every shame of mine is your glory
On every turned page of your story
Somehow you've shaped me into a man
And pushed my paths as only you can
Drawing nearer as I am to your destination
You've brought meaning to your creation
With every breath, may Christ be magnified
My enduring faith in you is signified
In my heart I hold beauty even as I cry
I will praise you until the day that I die
You've shown me how to sacrifice
Having made an altar of my life
Heart full of singing, beauty in my eyes
I remain thankful for each new coming sunrise
Lifting you up with the fullness of my praise
Living your ways to my best in all of my days
On the living altar of the strains of my life
I give you the glory by every moment's sacrifice
(c) January 12, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Ache, All of My Days, Altar, Altar of My Life, Beauty, Break, Breath, Christ, Creation, Cry, Day, Destination, Die, Enduring Faith, Every Moment, Eyes, Fullness, Glory, Heart, Law, Life, Lifting You Up, Living Altar, Lord God, Magnified, Man, Meaning, Near, Page, Paths, Poetry and Poems, Praise, Sacrifice, Shame, Shaped, Signified, Sing, Story, Strains, Sunrise, Thankful, The Glory, Truth, Your Ways, Youth
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Thought For the Day: If Honor Be Your Clothing, The Suit Will Last A Lifetime; But If Clothing Be Your Honor, It Will Soon Be Worn Threadbare
“If honor be your clothing, the suit will last a lifetime; but if clothing be your honor, it will soon be worn threadbare.” – William D. Arnot (1808–1875)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Clothing, Honor, Last, Lifetime, Suit, Thought For the Day, Threadbare, William D. Arnot, Your Honor
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First Principles: The Only Thing Necessary For Evil To Triumph Is For Good Men To Do Nothing
“The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing.” – Edmund Burke
Posted in First Principles
Tagged Edmund Burke, Evil, First Prinicples, Good Men, Necessary, Nothing, Only Thing
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Waking From Lies
Waking From Lies
by Michael Doyle
The life before us
Seen as if waking from lies
Maybe it never was
We awake with opened eyes
Danger stands on either side
While we choose our confession
We can fake that it stops at wounded pride
Or press forward despite our predilection
It's in the books real meaning
That as children we would disappear
Learning, as it were, what it was human beings
Traveling vast distances while staying near
That's how it is on seeking glory
While others seek happiness in every heart then
Some quest after the end of the story
Others it seems are content when questioning when
We walk through the shadows as we best contend
Are real but these never feel that way
Afraid to cast off what is and isn't pretend
Instead of feeling alive in our every day
A kiss might melt the tears away
Holding on to forget our hurting sorrow
Going through the sermons of every day
Resisting in our hopeful reveries for tomorrow
(c) January 11, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Books, Cast Off, Children, Choose, Confession, Content, Danger, Disappear, Either Side, End of the Story, Every Day, Every Heart, Feel, Feeling Alive, Forget, Hope, Human Beings, Hurt, Kiss, Learn, Lies, Life Before Us, Never Was, Opened Eyes, Poetry and Poems, Predilection, Press Forward, Pretend, Quest, Questioning, Real, Real Meaning, Reverie, Seek Happiness, Seeking Glory, Sermons, Shadows, Sorrow, Stay Near, Tears, Tomorrow, Travel, Vast Distances, Wake, Waking From Lies, Walk, Wounded Pride
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First Principles: I Ask, Sir, What Is the Militia? It Is the Whole People. To Disarm the People Is the Best and Most Effectual Way To Enslave Them.
“I ask, Sir, what is the militia? It is the whole people. To disarm the people is the best and most effectual way to enslave them.” – George Mason, Speech at the Virginia Ratifying Convention, 1788
Thought For the Day: Act As If What You Do Makes A Difference It Does
“Act as if what you do makes a difference. It does.” -William James, psychologist (11 Jan 1842-1910)
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Act, Difference, Does, Make, Thought For the Day, What You Do, William James
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An Appetite For Destruction
An Appetite For Destruction
by Michael Doyle
I awoke with a startled cough
Wondering how it was, I drifted off
The Mad Hatter's world is no longer pretense
As I awoke to a world of nonsense
There were poets denying use of rhyme
As though that were the deepest crime
Worse perhaps than having nothing to say
Or disguising bad grammar in a poetic way
Have you ever questioned this reality
Or looked straight into its face with totality
It seems every set of wordsmiths think itself clever
To repeat and rinse just to repeat this on forever
It became popular to confuse nightmares for dreams
Cut-aways and paste overs pass for pleasing it seems
Unpleasant things have become the world's past time
But you, Mr. Poet, must never, ever dare to rhyme
Life's card games keep dealing the same dull hand
As if doom and gloom is what we humans best understand
Resting on the ghosts of yesterday's reconstruction
When happiness gives way to an appetite for destruction
(c) January 10, 2022 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Appetite, Appetite for Destruction, Awoke, Bad Grammar, Card Games, Clever, Cough, Crime, Cutaways, Dare To Rhyme, Deny, Destruction, Doom and Gloom, Dreams, Drifted Off, Dull Hand, Face, Fireside Poets, Ghosts of Yesterday, Gives Way, Happiness, Human, Life, Mad Hatter, Nightmares, Nonsense, Nothing to Say, Past Time, Paste Overs, Pleasing, Poet, Poetic Way, Poetry and Poems, Pretense, Question, Reality, Reconstruction, Repeat and Rinse, Rhyme, Totality, Understand, Unpleasant, Wonder, Wordsmith
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Thought For the Day: The Best Thing We Can Do With the Failures of the Past Is To Let Them Be History
“The best thing we can do with the failures of the past is to let them be history.”
– Gary Chapman, quote from The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts
