“You cannot escape the responsibility of tomorrow by evading it today.” – Abraham Lincoln
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First Principles: You Cannot Escape the Responsibility of Tomorrow By Evading It Today
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Tagged Abraham Lincoln, Escape, Evasion, First Principles, Responsibility, Today, Tomorrow
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Where Are the Kids’ Bikes?
Where Are the Kids' Bikes?
by Michael Doyle
Driving down the suburban streets
It seems the few kids out are on their feet.
What happened to the bikes in my neighborhood?
The fun of this, I thought, would be understood.
But even as I tried over and over again
To teach my daughters this would bring friends
Even they thought of this as somehow passe.
I become something I would never bother to say.
The school-aged children in protective helmets
Riding in lines together is seldom met.
It is as though computers have made them forget
And that seems something they will one day regret.
I know that I do already, and think of the health.
Computers might be too engaging and maybe bring wealth
But what good is a ton of money when you're sedentary?
I don't mean to sound like a Luddite or too contrary.
Only one in five are now biking frequently.
This to me seems almost a tragic absurdity.
It's one of the healthiest things for a kid to do,
And is good for their emotional and physical health, too.
I think its correlative value is more than coincidence.
There is no doubt that it builds up a child's confidence.
All of this, plus a fall or two, builds resilience
And all of this together creates a kid with shining brilliance.
(c) July 1, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Absurdit, Bikes, Briliance, Computers, Contrary, Daughters, Feet, Forget, Friends, Fund, Health, Kids, Kids Bikes, Lines, Neighborhood, Passe, Poetry and Poems, Protective Helmets, Regret, Resilience, School-Aged Children, Sedentrary, Suburban Streets, Understood
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Thought For the Day: The Happiness of Your Life Depends On the Quality of Your Thoughts
“The happiness of your life depends upon the quality of your thoughts” – Marcus Aurelius
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Tagged Depend, Happiness, Life, Marcus Aurelius, Quality, Thought, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: Government Is Not Reason; It Is Not Eloquent; It Is Force. Like Fire, It Is A Dangerous Servant and A Fearful Master.
“Government is not reason; it is not eloquent; it is force. Like fire, it is a dangerous servant and a fearful master. Experience has taught us that it is much easier to prevent an enemy from posting themselves than it is to dislodge them after they have got possession, and when the freedom of speech is taken away then dumb and silent we may be led, like sheep to the slaughter.” – George Washington
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Tagged Dangerous, Eloquent, Fearful Master, Fire, First Principles, Force, George Washington, Government, Reaason, Servant
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Being True To Oneself
Being True To Oneself
by Michael Doyle
One doesn't need to be a king to wield authority.
One only needs to have and possess personal sovereignty.
To know that strength lies in one's personal dignity.
And to dare to speak one's truth with great authority.
Hamlet is attributed as saying to one's self be true.
And you and I? We know this truth is solidly true.
It is the pathway to gain success and be happy.
And in this, we understand Trump's success is in empathy.
Though the Left loves to decry an authoritarian personality
The reason for brokered peace around the world is his empathy.
The Oracle at Delphi challenged each of us to "know thyself."
This is perhaps the greatest truth on any bookshelf.
Seneca echoed this as being perhaps the greatest tool.
It is the tool that separates a wise man from a fool.
Damaging errors and undue bias in all of their confusion,
Mislead us into the cruelest of self-serving delusion.
Claiming, as it were, all sorts of lies and deceptions.
Like untrue Russian Hoaxes in attempts to win the nation.
Knowing ourselves is the toughest of challenges to master.
It causes even the bravest hearts to beat ever faster.
To do so, one gains self-awareness and the walk of honesty.
However imperfect the walk may be, it is one of integrity.
It is in this integrity that one gains an innate power
To be able to gain first insights and then rule the hour.
The hour of every crisis in a world filled with self-doubt.
The wisest of the wise have this much somewhat aptly figured out.
It is to see the world of yourself, for yourself, correctly.
And then to see the world how the world sees you indirectly.
It is to walk this world, seeing what others think they know.
Knowing that they do not correctly know and that it's a show.
Such insights open the door to holding personal integrity.
In this, those who would not be king build their legacy.
(c) June 30, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Authoritarian Personality, Authority, Bias, Bookshelf, Brave Heart, Brokered Peace, Challenge, Confusion, Correctly, Crisis, Dare, Delphi Oracle, Door, Echo, Empathy, Errors, Fool, Hamlet, Happy, Honesty, Hour, Imperfect, Indirect, Innate Power, Insight, Integrity, King, Know, Know Thyself, Legacy, Lies and Deceptions, Life, Maaster, Motivation, Nation, Onself, Pathway, Personal Development, Personal Dignity, Personal Growth, Personal Integrity, Personal Sovereignty, Poetry and Poems, Russian Hoax, Self Doubt, Self-Awareness, self-improvement, Self-Serving Deluson, Seneca, Show, Strength, Success, The eft, Tool, True, Trump, Truth, Walk, Wise Man, World
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First Principles: Democracy and Socialism Have Nothing In Common But One Word, Equality. But Notice the Difference While Democracy Seeks Equality in Liberty, Socialism Seeks Equality in Restraint and Servitude
“Democracy and socialism have nothing in common but one word, equality. But notice the difference: while democracy seeks equality in liberty, socialism seeks equality in restraint and servitude.” – Alexis de Tocqueville
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Tagged Alexis de Tocqueville, Common, Democracy, Difference, Equality, First Principles, Liberty, Resttraint, Servitude, Socialism
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Thought For the Day: When Plunder Becomes A Way of Life For A Group of Men In A Society, Over the Course of Time They Create For Themselves A Legal System That Authorizes It and A Moral Code That Glorifies It
“When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men in a society, over the course of time they create for themselves a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that glorifies it.” -Frédéric Bastiat, economist and writer (30 Jun 1801-1850)
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Tagged Authoirze, Frederic Bastiat, Glory, Group, Legal System, Moral Code, Plunder, Society, Thought For the Day, Way of Life
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A Small Matter of Growing Faith
A Small Matter of Growing Faith
by Michael Doyle
We gather in an authentic community,
We are at one with all other members of the family.
After all, all churches are truly one
Lost in the thunder of the Father and the Son.
Faith grows at its own pace,
Fully within the comfort of its own space.
Abounding in the blessings of gratitude,
We hold these truths as more than platitude.
In this era of the overly sensitive and feeling,
There is room to think about spiritual healing.
All across the states of this praying nation,
We need to heal the wounds of our broken relations.
Looking for miracles in the world of today,
According to the scriptures, it's God's way.
God is the same today as He was yesterday,
We just need to get our blinders out of the way.
Asked prayers receive yes, no, and sometimes maybe.
It's not always the same for you and me
Miracles are not a matter of cultivation,
But a matter of faith, requiring some maturation.
Tendencies committed in the name of harmony
Need to be evaluated within our Christian family.
When it's not working and we come up next to empty,
We need to find the touch of merciful empathy.
Our faith saves us in the healing ministry.
Love is the price paid without any mystery.
Through grace and goodness, always revealing,
Jesus stands with us when we need healing.
In the brokenness of this world's despair,
Our God moves toward the pain to repair.
Eternal hope and love defeat Satan's living Hell,
Allowing believers Heaven in which to dwell.
Carried through a lifetime filled with its pain,
Our theology takes the time and care to explain
The how and the why we are enabled to run through death.
We know this belief to the last of our breath.
God comes with us through all that we endure.
There is no lost cause that God cannot cure.
God's faithfulness is found in His consistency.
Miracles bring Heaven to Earth throughout history.
Self-location allows our steps toward healing.
We need to know where we are without concealing,
To step forward in truth, we must be self-aware
This is the unconcealed truth that must be laid bare.
We must never fear, but instead we must believe
This is the condition precedent for each to receive.
Desperation causes us to waver and can deceive
But if we put our faith in God, He will relieve
Whatever malady that comes our lonesome way.
Among our best answers is to quietly pray.
We know that our Lord God listens to our needs.
We know this is so, because it's how the Gospel reads.
(c) June 29, 2025 Michael Doyle
All Rights Reserved
Posted in Poetry and Poems
Tagged Authentic Community, Bible, Blessings, Christianity, Church, Era, Faith, Family, Father, Feeling, God, Gratitude, Growing Faith, Jesus, Members, Miracles, Pace, Platitude, Poetry and Poems, Sensitive, Small Matter, Son, Space, Spiritual Healing, Thunder, Truth
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Thought For the Day: The Future Belongs To Those Who Believe In the Beauty of Their Dreams
“The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams.” – Eleanor Roosevelt
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Tagged Beauty, Believe, Belong, Dreams, Eleanor Roosevelt, Future, Thought For the Day
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First Principles: Do Nothing Out of Selfish Ambition or Vain Conceit. Rather, In Humility Value Others Above Yourselves, Not Looking To Your Own Interests But Each of You To the Interests of the Others
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.” – Philippians 2:3-4
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Tagged First Principles, Humility, Interests, Nothing, Others, Philippians 2:3-4, Selfish Ambition, Vain Conceit, Value
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ALOHA PROMISES FOREVER 