Le Déserteur English translation copyright © 1983 James Prescott   Your Majesty the King, I'm writing you a letter, Though you might hear me better, if you could hear me sing. There just came through my door, my army papers warning, We leave on Monday morning, we march away to war. Well, I don't fit your plan, I must refuse the shilling, For I'm no longer willing, to kill my fellow man. Your Majesty, I say, with due consideration, It's my determination, I will desert today. I've seen my father die, I've seen my sisters grieving, My older brothers leaving,...

I DON’T KNOW HOW TO WRITE A LOVE POEM                                                                 by Shira, Development Instructor,   IICD Massachussetts     I don`t know how to write a love poem But I can tell you what it is like to hear Third world children screaming my name and running towards me with open arms I can tell you what it is like to have lived in Mozambique For only half a year And to return With familiar faces as I embrace The memories they have kept alive of me Calling out my name as if I have been here all along I don't know...

Salut au Monde! By Walt Whitman 1819-1892 1 O take my hand Walt Whitman! Such gliding wonders! such sights and sounds! Such join'd unended links, each hook'd to the next, Each answering all, each sharing the earth with all. What widens within you Walt Whitman? What waves and soils exuding? What climes? what persons and cities are here? Who are the infants, some playing, some slumbering? Who are the girls? who are the married women? Who are the groups of old men going slowly with their arms about each other's necks? What rivers are these? what forests and fruits are...

Manual for Climbing Mountains --by Paulo Coelho, Original Story, Dec 20, 2011  A] Choose the mountain you want to climb: don’t pay attention to what other people say, such as “that one’s more beautiful” or “this one’s easier”. You’ll be spending lots of energy and enthusiasm to reach your objective, so you’re the only one responsible and you should be sure of what you’re doing. B] Know how to get close to it: mountains are often seen from far off – beautiful, interesting, full of challenges. But what happens when we try to draw closer? Roads run all around them,...

Invictus by William Ernest Henley Out of the night that covers me, Black as the Pit from pole to pole, I thank whatever gods may be For my unconquerable soul. In the fell clutch of circumstance I have not winced nor cried aloud. Under the bludgeonings of chance My head is bloody, but unbowed. Beyond this place of wrath and tears Looms but the Horror of the shade, And yet the menace of the years Finds, and shall find, me unafraid. It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my...

  IF you can keep your head when all about you Are losing theirs and blaming it on you, If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you, But make allowance for their doubting too; If you can wait and not be tired by waiting, Or being lied about, don't deal in lies, Or being hated, don't give way to hating, And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise: If you can dream - and not make dreams your master; If you can think - and not make thoughts your aim; If you can meet with Triumph...

PREAMBLE   Whereas recognition of the inherent dignity and of the equal and inalienable rights of all members of the human family is the foundation of freedom, justice and peace in the world, Whereas disregard and contempt for human rights have resulted in barbarous acts which have outraged the conscience of mankind, and the advent of a world in which human beings shall enjoy freedom of speech and belief and freedom from fear and want has been proclaimed as the highest aspiration of the common people, Whereas it is essential, if man is not to be compelled to have recourse,...

HUMANISM AND ITS ASPIRATIONS Humanist Manifesto III, a successor to the Humanist Manifesto of 933* Humanism is a progressive philosophy of life that, without supernaturalism, affirms our ability and responsibility to lead ethical lives of personal fulfillment that aspire to the greater good of humanity. The lifestance of Humanism—guided by reason, inspired by compassion, and informed by experience—encourages us to live life well and fully. It evolved through the ages and continues to develop through the efforts of thoughtful people who recognize that values and ideals, however carefully wrought, are subject to change as our knowledge and understandings advance. This...