“The care of human life and happiness, and not their destruction, is the first and only legitimate object of good government.” – Thomas Jefferson (1809)
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First Principles: The Care of Human Life and Happiness and Not Their Destruction, Is the First and Only Legitimate Object of Good Government
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Tagged Care, Destruction, First, First Principles, Good Government, Happiness, Human Life, Legitimate, Object, Only, Thomas Jefferson
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Thought For the Day: Integrity Is Doing the Right Thing Even When No One Is Watching
“Integrity is doing the right thing even when no one is watching.” – C.S. Lewis
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged C.S. Lewis, Do, Even, Integrity, No One, Right Thing, Thought For the Day, Watching
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First Principles: It Is the Duty of All Nations To Acknowledge the Providence of Almighty God, To Obey His Will, To be Grateful For His Benefits and Humbly To Implore His Protection and Favor
“It is the duty of all Nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for his benefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor.” George Washington (1789)
Wounds Let In the Light
Wounds Let In the Light
by Michael Doyle
They say our wounds let in the light
I don't know if it's by experience or second light
But something about this notion is wound tight
And from what I have seen, perhaps they're right
The worst wound is taken in a moral injury
The type of forced wrong against immortality
That sears the soul in our fated mortality
And leaves many as dead as any other fatality
When the smoke clears at their war's end
There is sometimes little left of ourselves to defend
Having seen what we have, there's no going back again
To our better selves before our self-confessed sin
No longer are we as innocent as we once stood
Back when we believed we were born innately good
We would give almost anything to return if we could
But that we cannot is clearly and deeply understood
Life's river is never entered again quite the same
Once we have left that awkwardly innocent lane
They say we are not the ones to bear the shame
But guilt is guilt under any other comforting name
(c) November 19, 2020 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Bear, Believed, Better Selves, Born, Clear, Comfort, Dead, Deeply Understood, Defend, Enter, Experience, Fatality, Fate, Forced Wrong, Give Almost Anything, Guilt, Immortality, Innately Good, Innocent, Lane, Life, Light, Little Left, Moral Injury, Mortality, Name, No Going Back, Notion, Ourselves, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Right, River, Same, Sear, Second Light, Seen, Self-Confessed, Shame, Sin, Smoke Clears, Soul, Stood, To Return, War's End, Worst Wound, Wound Tight, Wounds
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Thought For the Day: God Can’t Give Us Peace and Happiness Apart From Himself Because There Is No Such Thing
“God can’t give us peace and happiness apart from Himself because there is no such thing.” – C.S.Lewis
Posted in Thought For the Day
Tagged Apart, Because, C.S. Lewis, Cannot, Give, God, Happiness, Peace, There Is No Such Thing, Thought For the Day, Us
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First Principles: Facts Are Stubborn Things and Whatever May Be Our Wishes, Our Inclination or the Dictates of Our Passions, They Cannot Alter the State of the Facts and Evidence
“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclination, or the dictates of our passions, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” – John Adams (1770)
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Tagged Alter, Dictates, Evidence, Facts, First Principles, Inclination, John Adams, Passions, State, Stubborn Things, Wishes
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First Principles: Republics Are Created By the Virtue, Public Spirit and Intelligence of the Citizens
“Republics are created by the virtue, public spirit, and intelligence of the citizens. They fall, when the wise are banished from the public councils, because they dare to be honest, and the profligate are rewarded, because they flatter the people, in order to betray them.” – Justice Joseph Story (1833)
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Tagged Banish, Betray, Citizens, Created, Dare, Fail, First Principles, Flatter, Honest, Intelligence, Justice Joseph Story, Order, Profligate, Public Council, Public Spirit, Republics, Reward, The People, Virtue, Wise
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Thought For the Day: Affliction is Often That Thing Which Prepares An Ordinary Person For Some Sort of An Extraordinary Destiny
“Affliction is often that thing which prepares an ordinary person for some sort of an extraordinary destiny.” – C.S. Lewis
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Tagged Affliction, C.S. Lewis, Destiny, Extraordinary, Ordinary Person, Prepare, Sort, Thought For the Day
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What Is Jeopardy?
What Is Jeopardy?
by Michael Doyle
It's a strange thing, pop culture's popularity
I, among the many, revered moments of Jeopardy
Predictably catchy theme played on hesitation
As each of us hoped we just might have the question
That matched the answer showing up on the board
Each heartfelt moment of pushing ever forward
Hardly waiting for the next that we might just know
I have lived most of my life under the shadow of this show
Alex, we hardly knew you, but the man that we did
Was a pleasure and gracious host who asked us to bid
That we might know our ways to that final jeopardy
Why life took you so harshly is perhaps the worse mystery
The glow of having known you was always the best of the show
Coaxing the interesting out of so many fact obsessed souls
Mine included, I quietly confess, as I do now that I cried
That day when your end came I know that an angel surely sighed
What is life for all that we ever know and for its full worth?
I am certain I saw that flashing, looking at the star of the North
You handled it all with warm heart and quietly, stoic dignity
In doing so, you showed us all what it means to bet on Jeopardy
(c) November 17, 2020 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Alex Trebek, Angel, Answer, Best of the Show, Bid, Board, Coax, Confess, Dignity, Fact, Final Jeopardy, Forward, Full Worth, Glow, Gracious, Handled It, Harsh, Heartfelt, Hestitation, Host, I Cried, Know, Life, Match, My Life, Mystery, Next, North, Obsess, Photograph, Poem, Poetry, Pop Culture, Popularity, Question, Quiet, Revered, Shadow, Show, Sigh, Star, Stoic, Them, Warm Heart, What is Jeopardy, What Is Life For?
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First Principles: Religion and Good Morals Are the Only Solid Foundation of Public Liberty and Happiness
“Religion and good morals are the only solid foundation of public liberty and happiness.” – Samuel Adams
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Tagged First Principles, Good Morals, Happiness, Public Liberty, Religion, Samuel Adams, Solid Foundation
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