Sunday, April 29, 2018

Lessons from Cyrano

That honor, beauty, truth are kept inside,
    food for the spirit, when mere food is scarce.
That love and joy can grant the strength to fight
    the battles of the sword or of the heart.
That courage is no less if there be none
    to witness it—and may be all the greater.
To speak the truth with your own voice—even
    if you must use another’s mouth to speak.
That there are many ways a man may ascend
    to Heaven on the wings of his invention.
That the only villains worthy of the fight
    are Falsehood, Compromise, and Cowardice.
To take what comes—the wit, the looks, the pride,
    the good and bad of fortune, the hardest tests
    of friendship and of love, accepting all
    unflinchingly—as duty and as freedom.
And if God sees fit to grant you a large nose,
    to wear it proudly, for you know He knows.

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