A Message For Us - Reflections of a Member
Posted on: June 05, 2008Written by: UWSA Staff
Date: Tue, 09 May 1995 06:59:15 -0600
From: Claude Van Horn
To: planb@uwsa.com
Subject: Wisdom of the past.
Lebanese poet Kahlil Gibran lived from the 1880s to the early 1930s. He
wrote many things, the most famous of which is a book called "THE PROPHET".
There was a second book, called "THE GARDEN OF THE PROPHET" which contains
this caution to the nations to the world.
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My friends and my roadfellows, pity the nation that is full of beliefs and
empty of religion.
Pity the nation that wears a cloth it does not weave, eats a bread it does
not harvest, and drinks a wine that flows not from its own winepress.
Pity the nation that acclaims the bully as hero, and that deems the
glittering conquerer bountiful.
Pity a nation that despises a passion in its dream, yet submits in its
awakening.
Pity the nation that raises not its voice save when it walks in a funeral,
boasts not except among its ruins, and will rebel not save when its neck is
laid between the sword and the block.
Pity the nation whose statesman is a fox, whose philosopher is a juggler,
and whose art is the art of patching and mimicking.
Pity the nation that welcomes its new ruler with trumpetings, and farewells
him with hootings, only to welcome another with trumpetings again.
Pity the nation whose sages are dumb with years and whose strong men are yet
in the cradle.
Pity the nation divided into fragments, each fragment deeming itself a nation.
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Quite a picture, isn't it?
Van!!
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Claude Van Horn | UWSA member. GO player
van@wordsys.com | Voice Mail - Dictation
cvanhorn@wyoming.com | Internet Instruction
TheVanHorn@aol.com | Philosopher - good guy.
and other assorted addresses. | http://www.csn.net/~van/
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Not an expert -- but I play one on the Internet.
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