Ericksens and their Half Dozen: Let's Be Brave

Friday, March 6, 2009

Let's Be Brave

This is one of my most favorite poems. We all experience sorrow in life. It is natural. But I find in this poem a reminder and it centers me.

Let's Be Brave

Let's be brave when the laughter dies
And the tears come into our troubled eyes,
Let's cling to the faith and the old belief
When the skies grow gray with the clouds of grief,
Let's bear the sorrow and hurt and pain
And wait till the laughter comes again.
Let's be brave when the trials come
And our hearts are sad and our lips are dumb,
Let's strengthen ourselves in the times of test
By whispering softly that God knows best;
Let us still believe, though we cannot know,
We shall learn sometimes it is better so.
Let's be brave when the joy departs,
Till peace shall come to our troubled hearts,
For the tears must fall and the rain come down
And each brow be pressed to the thorny crown;
Yet after the dark shall the sun arise,
So let's be brave when the laughter dies.
By Edgar A. Guest

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"A true wife makes a man's life nobler, stronger, grander, by the omnipotence of her love; turning all the forces of manhood upward and heavenward. While she clings to him in holy confidence and loving dependence she brings out in him whatever is noble and richest in his being. She inspires him with her courage and earnestness. She beautifies his life. She softens whatever is rude and harsh in his habits or spirits. She clothes him with the gentler graces of refined and cultured manhood. While she yields to him and never disregards his lightest wish, she is really his queen, ruling his whole life and leading him onward and upward in every proper path." -JR Miller

I had rather be shut up in a very modest cottage, with my books, my family, and a few old friends, dining on simple bacon, and letting the world roll on as it liked, than to occupy the most splendid post which any human power can give.

"The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers."

"I predict future happiness for Americans, if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them."

"Governement big enough to supply everything you need is big enough to take everything you have. The course of history shows us that as a government grows, liberty decreases."

"If a nation expects to be ignorant and free, in a state of civilization, it expects what never was and never will be."

"The end of democracy and the defeat of the American Revolution will occur when government falls into the hands of lending institutions and moneyed incorporations."

Thomas Jefferson (It's quite evident that I relish in his brilliance.)

"Gratitude is the beginning of civilty, of decency and goodness, of a recognition that we cannot afford to be arrogant. We should walk with the knowledge that we will need help every step of the way."

"Hatred always fails and bitterness always destroys. Are there virtues more in need of application in our day, a time marked by litigious proceedings and heated exchanges, than those of forgiving, forgetting, and extending mercy to those who may have wronged us or let us down?"

"Civilty carries with it the essence of courtesy, politeness, and consideration of others. All of the education and accomplishments in the world will not count for much unless they are accompanied by marks of gentility, of respect for others, of going the extra mile."

"In leadership, in standing for principle, there is loneliness. But men and women of integrity must live with their convictions. Unless they do so, they are miserable."
Gordon B. Hinckley-Standing for Something