Axar.az presents an article “And I Quote” by John Samuel Tieman.

Are we more comfortable being cynical than being instructed? Are we more comfortable being destructive than being inspired? There are so many threats to democracy these days. Insurrection. Ignoring the norms of governance. Ignoring rule by law. Dismantling the republic. Then there's cynicism and destruction. “All politicians are dishonest and corrupt.” You hear stuff like this all the time. Sure, some are. But there are maybe half a million politicians in the United States, from the village alderman in rural Missouri to the Mayor Of Los Angeles. I am a city council member. I'm new, the backbencher, one year and change in office. My experience is limited. That said, my impression is that most politicians are motivated by idealism. Idealism and practical politics are by no means exclusionary. In May of 1515, Thomas More drafted “Utopia” while he also penned a trade agreement. A saint who sat in Parliament.

"Beauty is truth, truth beauty”, the poet says. The beautiful word does not simply entertain. It changes a person. The words matter. Below is a short list of words that changed me, and continue to move me. There's no particular order. I have kept my choices to those that are political. I could have chosen, “I, John, take you, Phoebe, to be my wife.” I also love the lyricism of a gospel portion I heard as an altar boy. “In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum.” But I want to keep it political. It's worth mentioning that I don't exclude religious words. As Mahatma Gandhi said, “Those who say religion has nothing to do with politics do not know what religion is.” I limit my quotes to 14 because 14 pages seem a bit much.

***

“Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God. .” – The Beatitudes

“Love your neighbor as yourself.” – Matthew

“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. – That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed". – Thomas Jefferson

“Just because each of us might at any second be blown away, everyone is acting like we can do anything, man. And it don't matter what we do. But I'm thinking maybe it's the other way around. You know, maybe the main thing is just the opposite. Because we might be dead in the next split second, we gotta be extra careful what we do. 'Cause maybe it matters more. Jesus, man, maybe it matters more than we even know.” – Ericksson in “Causalities Of War”

“I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.” – Martin Luther King, jr.

“And so, my fellow Americans: ask not what your country can do for you — ask what you can do for your country.” – John Kennedy

“They were careless people, Tom and Daisy – they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money or their vast carelessness or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made.” – Nick in “The Great Gatsby”

"Years ago, I recognized my kinship with all living things, and I made up my mind that I was not one bit better than the meanest on earth... . While there is a lower class, I am in it; while there is a criminal element, I am of it; and while there is a soul in prison, I am not free." – Eugene Debs

"Men shape their own lives, but not under circumstances of their own choosing." – Karl Marx

“[T]hat government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.” – Abraham Lincoln

“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and, for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it – always.” – Mahatma Gandhi

“For I was hungry, and you gave me to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me to drink; I was a stranger, and you took me in; naked, and you covered me; sick, and you visited me; I was in prison, and you came to me.” – Matthew

“If you have two coats, one of them belongs to the poor.” – Dorothy Day

And, lastly, this excerpt from a poem. “Between me and my God / There are only eleven commandments; / The eleventh says: Thou shalt not / Bury thy brother alive”. – Atukwei Okai