• We must, indeed, all hang together, or most assuredly we shall all hang separately. -Benjamin Franklin, Freedom Fighter

  • We are caught in an inescapable network of mutuality, tied in a single garment of destiny. Whatever affects one directly, affects all indirectly. -Martin Luther King, Jr., Freedom Fighter

  • Let us be cautious in making assertions and critical in examining them, but tolerant in permitting linguistic forms. -Rudolf Carnap, Philosopher

  • A clash of doctrines is not a disaster—it is an opportunity. -Alfred North Whitehead, Philosopher

  • If we could read the secret history of our enemies we should find in each man’s life sorrow and suffering enough to disarm all hostility. -Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, Poet

  • Out beyond ideas of wrongdoing and rightdoing, there is a field. I’ll meet you there. -Rumi, Mystic

  • If you would be a real seeker after truth, it is necessary that at least once in your life you doubt, as far as possible, all things. – Rene Descartes, Philosopher

  • A house divided against itself cannot stand. -Abraham Lincoln, President

  • Problems cannot be solved by the same level of thinking that created them. -Albert Einstein, Scientist

  • Be the change you want to see in the world. -Mahatma Gandhi, Freedom Fighter

Thanksgiving 2012

Congress shall make no law respecting an establishment of religion, or prohibiting the free exercise thereof… -US Constitution, First Amendment, 1791 It was in the 4th grade when Mr. Welch taught me about religious freedom.  Mr. Welch, Read more »

Constitution Day, 2012

We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves Read more »

Independence Day, 2012

In CONGRESS, July 4, 1776 The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America, On July 1, 1776—on a hot and humid summer day—in Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, John Adams of Massachusetts was locked in debate with Read more »

Memorial Day, 2012

… that these dead shall not have died in vain. Abraham Lincoln   As a young boy in Oil City, Pennsylvania, I marched in our annual Memorial Day parade with my Cub Scout troop. It was a Read more »

Martin Luther King Day, 2012

  I accept this award today with an abiding faith in America and an audacious faith in the future of mankind. Martin Luther King, Jr. Nobel Peace Prize Acceptance Speech 1964 I grew up in an America Read more »

Thanksgiving, 2011

These are the times that try men’s souls. Thomas Paine The skies remain dark this Thanksgiving. The greatest economic recession since the great depression is entering its fourth year. Sixteen percent of workers are either unemployed or Read more »

Constitution Day, 2011

I’m as mad as hell, and I’m not going to take this anymore! Howard Beale Network The options considered by the 55 delegates to the Constitutional Convention were broad. What kind of government were we to have? Read more »

Independence Day, 2011

You give the appearance of one widely traveled, I’ll bet you’ve seen things in your time. So sit down beside me and tell me your story, If you think you’ll like yesterday’s wine. Willie Nelson According to Read more »

Memorial Day 2011

… that these dead shall not have died in vain. Abraham Lincoln From the The Post and Courier, Charleston, South Carolina, May 18, 2011 North Charleston soldier killed in Afghanistan A soldier from North Charleston — whose Read more »

Patriots Day, 2011

America’s civil war began 150 years ago on April 12, 1861 when Confederate troops stationed in Charleston, South Carolina bombarded Fort Sumter, forcing its capitulation. Six weeks earlier, the citizens of Charleston and the Union troops at Read more »

Get these essays sent to you by email: