Happy 2017!
Jan. 1st, 2017 08:29 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
eldritchhobbitHappy 2017, my friends! At the dawn of each year I revisit this quote. I think it is worth repeating...
So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song
for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing
a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food
and for the joy of living;
if you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing,
for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die,
be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear
of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray
for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different
way; sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
- attributed to Tecumseh* (1768?-1813), Shawnee Nation
* (Note: The historian in me demanded that I add this footnote, just FYI. While researching and writing this I failed to find an adequate source for the above quote, so I suspect it has been enhanced and adjusted over the years, and might not even have originated with him at all. The sentiments, however, fit extremely well with more verifiable statements and speeches made by Tecumseh.)
So live your life that the fear of death can never enter your heart.
Trouble no one about their religion;
respect others in their view,
and demand that they respect yours.
Love your life, perfect your life, beautify all things in your life.
Seek to make your life long
and its purpose in the service of your people.
Prepare a noble death song
for the day when you go over the great divide.
Always give a word or a sign of salute when meeting or passing
a friend, even a stranger, when in a lonely place.
Show respect to all people and grovel to none.
When you arise in the morning give thanks for the food
and for the joy of living;
if you see no reason for giving thanks,
the fault lies only in yourself.
Abuse no one and no thing,
for abuse turns the wise ones to fools
and robs the spirit of its vision.
When it comes your time to die,
be not like those whose hearts are filled with the fear
of death, so that when their time comes they weep and pray
for a little more time to live their lives over again in a different
way; sing your death song and die like a hero going home.
- attributed to Tecumseh* (1768?-1813), Shawnee Nation
* (Note: The historian in me demanded that I add this footnote, just FYI. While researching and writing this I failed to find an adequate source for the above quote, so I suspect it has been enhanced and adjusted over the years, and might not even have originated with him at all. The sentiments, however, fit extremely well with more verifiable statements and speeches made by Tecumseh.)
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no subject
Date: 2017-01-01 02:41 pm (UTC)Nothing more apt to this year, especially, I think. May it go with more grace than we expect. Happy 2017!
no subject
Date: 2017-01-03 10:00 pm (UTC)Happy 2017 to you, too, my friend!
no subject
Date: 2017-01-03 11:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-01 08:59 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-03 10:00 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-01 09:38 pm (UTC)Happy New Year. Will you recommend a book to read this year?
no subject
Date: 2017-01-03 11:01 pm (UTC)My favorite reads of 2016 were The Call by by Peadar Ó Guilín (a gripping YA dystopia deeply soaked in real Irish mythology) and A Taste for Monsters by Matthew J. Kirby (a deeply humane historical mystery including the Elephant Man and Jack the Ripper, focused on the theme of redemption). I don't know if either of these would work for you, but I loved them!
no subject
Date: 2017-01-04 02:02 am (UTC)Thank you so much
no subject
Date: 2017-01-02 06:38 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-03 10:01 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-02 12:46 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2017-01-03 10:01 pm (UTC)