(On Left)
If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
Thurgood Marshall
Coal Creek Lodge No. 88, Tulsa, Oklahoma PHA)
Saturday, September 10, 2011
Great Freemasons: Thurgood Marshall (1908 - 1993)
If the First Amendment means anything, it means that a state has no business telling a man, sitting alone in his house, what books he may read or what films he may watch.
Thurgood Marshall
Coal Creek Lodge No. 88, Tulsa, Oklahoma PHA)
Friday, September 9, 2011
Great Freemasons: Oscar Wilde (1854 - 1900)
"God knows; I won't be an Oxford don anyhow. I'll be a poet, a writer, a dramatist. Somehow or other I'll be famous, and if not famous, I'll be notorious. Or perhaps I'll lead the life of pleasure for a time and then—who knows?—rest and do nothing. What does Plato say is the highest end that man can attain here below? To sit down and contemplate the good. Perhaps that will be the end of me too."
-Quoted in "In Victorian days and other papers" By Sir David Oswald Hunter-Blair, (New York: Longmans, 1939, p122)
Apollo University Lodge No. 357, Oxford (UGLE)
Thursday, September 8, 2011
Great Freemasons: Mustafa Kemal Atatürk (1881 - 1938)
"I have no religion, and at times I wish all religions at the bottom of the sea. He is a weak ruler who needs religion to uphold his government; it is as if he would catch his people in a trap. My people are going to learn the principles of democracy, the dictates of truth and the teachings of science. Superstition must go. Let them worship as they will; every ...man can follow his own conscience, provided it does not interfere with sane reason or bid him against the liberty of his fellow-men." Mustafa Kemal Atatürk
Mustafa Kemal Atatürk was an Ottoman and Turkish army officer, revolutionary statesman, writer, and the first President of Turkey. He is credited with being the founder of the Republic of Turkey.
Wednesday, September 7, 2011
Great Freemasons: William "Count" Basie (1904 - 1984)
Well, if you find a note tonight that sounds good, play the same damn note every night!
William "Count" Basie (1904 - 1984)
Wisdom Lodge No. 102 (Prince Hall), Chicago. Also a Shriner
Tuesday, September 6, 2011
Great Freemasons: Swami Vivekananda (1863 - 1902)
"Sectarianism, bigotry, and it's horrible descendant, fanaticism, have long possessed this beautiful Earth. They have filled the earth with violence, drenched it often and often with human blood, destroyed civilization, and sent whole nations to despair. Had it not been for these horrible demons, human society would be far more advanced than it is now.
But their time is come; and I fervently hope that the bell that tolled this morning in honor of this convention may be the death-knell of all fanaticism, of all persecutions with the sword or with the pen, and of all uncharitable feelings between persons wending their way to the same goal." Swami Vivekananda
(Hope and Anchor Lodge No. 1, Calcutta)
Monday, September 5, 2011
My Next Girlfriend
Mikey Mason's follow-up to his internet hit, "She Don't Like Firefly."
And of course, the original:
And of course, the original:
Great Freemasons: Uriah Smith Stephens (1821 - 1882)
In Honor of Labor Day I would like to recognize a Brother who was instrumental to the Labor Movement, Uriah Smith Stephens.
"Uriah Smith Stephens (August 3, 1821 - February 13, 1882) was a U.S. labor leader. He led nine Philadelphia garment workers to found the Knights of Labor in 1869, a more successful early national union.
Stephens was initiated an Entered Apprentice Mason in Kensington Lodge No. 211 in Philadelphia on December 9, 1864; passed to the Degree of Fellowcraft on February 25, 1865; and raised to the Sublime Degree of Master Mason on March 24, 1865. He was also a member of Keystone Lodge No. 2, Knights of Pythias, and Fidelity Lodge No. 138, Independent Order of Odd Fellows."
Sunday, September 4, 2011
Ray Charles (1930 - 2004)
What is a soul? It's like electricity - we don't really know what it is, but it's a force that can light a room.
Ray Charles
Great Freemasons: Benjamin Franklin (1706 - 1790)
"For my own Part, when I am employed in serving others, I do not look upon myself as conferring Favours, but as paying Debts. In my Travels, and since my Settlement, I have received much Kindness from Men, to whom I shall never have any Opportunity of making the least direct Return. And numberless Mercies from God, who is infinitely above being benefited by our Services. Those Kindnesses from Men, I can therefore only Return on their Fellow Men; and I can only shew my Gratitude for these mercies from God, by a readiness to help his other Children and my Brethren. For I do not think that Thanks and Compliments, tho’ repeated weekly, can discharge our real Obligations to each other, and much less those to our Creator."
o Letter to Joseph Huey (6 June 1753); published in Albert Henry Smyth, The Writings of Benjamin Franklin, volume 3, p. 144.
(St. John's Lodge, Philadelphia, February 1731)
Saturday, August 27, 2011
Great Freemasons: Evelyn Briggs Baldwin (1862 - 1933)
Evelyn B. Baldwin (1862 - 1933) Arctic Explorer. b. July 22, 1862 at Spirngfield, Mo. Graduated Northwestern College, Naperville. Ill. in 1885. Accompanied Robert E, Peary on North Greenland Expedition 1893-94 as meteorologist and was meteo...rologist and 2nd in command of Walter Wellman';s Polar expedition to Franz-Josef Land 1898-99. Built and named Fort McKInley, discovered and explored Graham Bell Land.1889.
Organized and commanded Baldwin-Ziegler polar expedition 1901-02. Baldwin reportedly carried Masonic flags with him on his expeditions. d. Oct 25, 1933
(Adams Lodge Number 63, Oswego, Kansas)
-10,000 Famous Freemasons by William Denslow and Harry S. Truman
Carl Hiaasen
The first rule of hurricane coverage is that every broadcast must begin with palm trees bending in the wind.
Carl Hiaasen
Friday, August 26, 2011
A Public Service Announcement from Paul Krugman
A Public Service Announcement from Paul Krugman: Please do not board up or tape your windows. We need Hurricane Irene to break as many as possible, to stimulate the economy.
Great Freemasons: Hiram Bingham III (1875 - 1956)
"We cannot have confidence unless we have facts." Hiram Bingham III
(Hiram Lodge No. 1, Connecticut)
Great Freemasons: Daniel Boone (1734 - 1820)
Situated, many hundred miles from our families in the howling wilderness, I believe few would have equally enjoyed the happiness we experienced. I often observed to my brother, You see now how little nature requires to be satisfied. Felicity, the companion of content, is rather found in our own breasts than in the enjoyment of external things; And I firmly believe it requires but a little philosophy to make a man happy in whatsoever state he is. This consists in a full resignation to the will of Providence; and a resigned soul finds pleasure in a path strewed with briars and thorns. Daniel Boone, As quoted in "The Adventures of Col. Daniel Boon; containing a Narrative of the Wars of Kentucke" in The Discovery, Settlement And present State of Kentucke (1784) by John Filson
Wednesday, August 24, 2011
Great Freemasons: Rick Wakeman
(Rick is on the left)
"I always say that it's about breaking the rules. But the secret of breaking rules in a way that works is understanding what the rules are in the first place." Rick Wakeman
Brother Rick Wakeman hails from Chelsea Lodge No. 3098.
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
Great Freemasons: Simón Bolívar (1783 - 1830)
"A state too expensive in itself, or by virtue of its dependencies, ultimately falls into decay; its free government is transformed into a tyranny; it disregards the principles which it should preserve, and finally degenerates into despotism. The distinguishing characteristic of small republics is stability: the character of large republics is mutability." Simón Bolívar
Monday, August 22, 2011
To the People of Libya
My thoughts and prayers go out to the people of Libya. May you be blessed for the rest of your days with liberty and peace. God is great. May your future be free and prosperous!
Great Freemasons: Richard E. Byrd (1888 - 1957)
"The things that mankind has tested and found right make for harmony and progress — or peace; and the things it has found wrong hinder progress and make for discord. The right things lead to rational behavior — such as the substitution of reason for force — and so to freedom. The wrong things lead to brute force and slavery.
But the peace I describe is not passive. It must be won. Real peace comes from struggle that involves such things as effort, discipline, enthusiasm. This is also the way to strength. An inactive peace may lead to sensuality and flabbiness, which are discordant. It is often necessary to fight to lessen discord. This is the paradox." Richard E. Byrd
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Henry Clay (1777 - 1852)
"All religions united with government are more or less inimical to liberty. All, separated from government, are compatible with liberty." Henry Clay
Saturday, August 20, 2011
Thomas Paine (1737 - 1809)
"A long habit of not thinking a thing wrong, gives it a superficial appearance of being right, and raises at first a formidable outcry in defense of custom." Thomas Paine
Friday, August 19, 2011
Patrick Henry (1736 - 1799)
"Suspicion is a virtue as long as its object is the public good, and as long as it stays within proper bounds....Guard with jealous attention the public liberty. Suspect every one who approaches that jewel." Patrick Henry
Thursday, August 18, 2011
Ethan Allen (1738 - 1789)
To suppose that God Almighty has confined his goodness to this world, to the exclusion of all others, is much similar to the idle fancies of some individuals in this world, that they, and those of their communion or faith, are the favorites of heaven exclusively; but these are narrow and bigoted conceptions, which are degrading to a rational nature, and utterly unworthy of God, of whom we should form the most exalted ideas. Ethan Allen
Wednesday, August 17, 2011
Swami Vivekananda (1863 - 1902)
The moment I have realized God sitting in the temple of every human body, the moment I stand in reverence before every human being and see God in him—that moment I am free from bondage, everything that binds vanishes, and I am free.
Swami Vivekananda
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)