Ayn Rand (February 2, 1905 – March 6, 1982)

All the reasons which made the initiation of physical force evil, make the retaliatory use of physical force a moral imperative.
Ayn Rand

(Art: Batman and The Question by Gabriel Hardman)

Great Freemasons: Rob Morris (August 31, 1818, Boston, MA Died: July 31, 1888)

THE LEVEL AND THE SQUARE (circa August 1854)

Dr. Rob Morris, LLD, Masonic Poet Laureate 1818-1888

WE MEET UPON THE LEVEL, AND WE PART UPON THE SQUARE,—
What words of precious meaning those words Masonic are!
Come, let us contemplate them; they are worthy of a thought,—
With the highest and the lowest and the rarest they are fraught.

We meet upon the Level, though from every station come —
The King from out his palace and the poor man from his home;
For the one must leave his diadem without the Mason's door,
And the other finds his true respect upon the checkered floor.

We part upon the square, for the world must have its due;
We mingle with its multitude, a cold, unfriendly crew;
But the influence of our gatherings in memory is green,
And we long, upon the level, to renew the happy scene.

There's a World where all are equal,—we are hurrying towards it fast,—
We shall meet upon the level there when the gates of death are past;
We shall stand before the Orient, and our Master will be there,
To try the blocks we offer by His own unerring Square.

We shall meet upon the level there, but never thence depart;
There's a Mansion,— 'tis all ready for each zealous, faithful heart;
There's a Mansion, and a welcome, and a multitude is there,
Who have met upon the level and been tried upon the square.

Let us meet upon the level, then, while laboring patient here,—
Let us meet and let us labor, tho' the labor seem severe;
Already in the western sky the signs bid us prepare
To gather up our working tools and part upon the square.

Hands round, ye faithful Ghibilimites, the bright, fraternal chain;
We part upon the square below, to meet in Heaven again!
O what words of precious meaning those words Masonic are,
WE MEET UPON THE LEVEL, AND WE PART UPON THE SQUARE.


Rob Morris (August 31, 1818, Boston, MA
Died: July 31, 1888) was a prominent American poet and the Poet Laureate of Freemasonry after Robert Burns. He also created the first ritual for what was to become the Order of the Eastern Star.


http://www.phoenixmasonry.org/robert_morris_founder_of_oes.htm


(Made a Mason on March 5, 1846, at Oxford Lodge in Mississippi)

Sight: A Short Film by Sight Systems

Dag Hammarskjöld (29 July 1905 – 18 September 1961)

Our work for peace must begin within the private world of each one of us. To build for man a world without fear, we must be without fear. To build a world of justice, we must be just. And how can we fight for liberty if we are not free in our own minds? How can we ask others to sacrifice if we are not ready to do so?... Only in true surrender to the interest of all can we reach that strength and independence, that unity of purpose, that equity of judgment which are necessary if we are to measure up to our duty to the future, as men of a generation to whom the chance was given to build in time a world of peace.
Dag Hammarskjöld, in UN Press Release SG/360 (22 December 1953).

(Art by Alé Garza)

If Only....

I Have a Dream....

Ken Kesey (17 September 1935 – 10 November 2001)

I'm for mystery, not interpretive answers. ... The answer is never the answer. What's really interesting is the mystery. If you seek the mystery instead of the answer, you'll always be seeking. I've never seen anybody really find the answer, but they think they have. So they stop thinking. But the job is to seek mystery, evoke mystery, plant a garden in which strange plants grow and mysteries bloom. The need for mystery is greater than the need for an answer.
Ken Kesey

(Art by JG Jones)

Great Freemasons: Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (August 28, 1749 – March 22, 1832)

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749 - 1832)

"A Mason’s ways are
A type of existence,
And his persistence
Is as the days are
Of men of the world.
The future hides in it
Good hap or sorrow,
We pass through it-
Naught there abides in it
Daunting us- onward.
And silent, before us,
Veiled the dark portal,
Goal of all mortal;
Stars silent rest over us,
Graves under us silent.
But heard are the voices-
Voices of the sages
Of the world and the ages-
Choose well, your choice is
Brief, but yet endless.
Here eyes do regard you
In eternity’s stillness,
Here is all fullness,
Ye brave, to reward you,
Work and despair not."


Johann Wolfgang von Goethe was a German writer, pictorial artist, biologist, theoretical physicist, and polymath. He is considered the supreme genius of modern German literature. His works span the fields of poetry, drama, prose, philosophy, and science. His "Faust" has been called the greatest long poem of modern European literature. His other well-known literary works include his numerous poems, the "Bildungsroman Wilhelm Meister's Apprenticeship," and the epistolary novel "The Sorrows of Young Werther." ~wikipedia

(Lodge Amelie, Weimar)

Great Freemasons: William Potter Ross (August 28, 1820 – July 20, 1891)

William Potter Ross (August 28, 1820 – July 20, 1891), also known as Will Ross, was the Principal Chief of the Cherokee Nation. Born to a Scottish father and a mixed-blood Cherokee mother (the sister of future chief John Ross), he was raised in a bilingual home. He also attended English-speaking schools. He attended Princeton University, where he graduated first in his class in 1844.

Will served in several different roles in the Cherokee Nation. By then, his uncle had been elected as principal chief. Will became clerk of the Cherokee Senate in 1843. He became the founder and editor of the Cherokee Advocate Later, he was appointed director of the Cherkee Male and Female seminaries, then served as Treasurer of the Cherokee Nation.

He was chosen by the National Council on October 19, 1866 and served for several months until the election in 1867. He was later elected to succeed Lewis Downing, and served from 1872 to 1875. After his term ended, Will Ross retired to Fort Gibson, where he became a merchant and practiced law. He died there on July 20, 1891.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_P._Ross



( Federal Lodge 1, Washington, DC)

Great Freemasons: Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810)

Joseph-Michel Montgolfier (26 August 1740 – 26 June 1810) and Jacques-Étienne Montgolfier (6 January 1745 – 2 August 1799) were the inventors of the Montgolfière-style hot air balloon, globe aérostatique. The brothers succeeded in launching the first manned ascent, carrying Étienne into the sky. Later, in December 1783, in recognition of their achievement, their father Pierre was elevated to the nobility and the hereditary appellation of de Montgolfier by King Louis XVI of France.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Montgolfier_brothers

(Initiated: 1806 Loge des Neuf Soeurs, Paris)

(His brother Jacques-Etienne had been initiated in 1784).