Nooner

I discovered today one of my favorite quotes originated from a good friend that serves me much more than a burrito at lunch time.

"You understand the full power of temptation by never yielding to it." - Karl Birkland

I appreciate this perspective; it really gives those that choose the right a sense of strength and validation. I hope I am one day able learn how bad I truely am.

“No man knows how bad he is till he has tried very hard to be good. A silly idea is current that good people do not know what temptation means. This is an obvious lie. Only those who try to resist temptation know how strong it is. After all, you find out the strength of the German army by fighting it, not by giving in. A man who gives in to temptation after five minutes simply does not know what it would have been like an hour later.
That is why bad people, in one sense, know very little about badness. They have lived a sheltered life by always giving in. We never find out the strength of the evil impulse inside us until we try to fight it.” – C.S. Lewis

We Happy Few

When I first arrived at the University of Utah campus I was introduced to the St. Cispin's Day Speech of Shakespeare's Henry V by a dear friend. He charged us to develop our convictions and fight for them as if my very life depended upon it. Our youthful arrogance and limited experiences helped us undertake and accomplish many things we would have never dreamed of. In going through this process together, we developed a bond with each other that goes beyond that of common friendship. At the end of it, Shakespeare proved right. We were few, we happy few, we were band of brothers.

Although those bonds remain, sadly I have lost much of this charge in my approach to life. I now tend to seek common ground, compromise and the practical; rather than hold fast to my convinctions. I simply lack the passion I once had. Recently, I have stumbled upon a young bright visionary. Her wide-eyed view of the world is one that is innocent yet true. Just a small glimpse of this world gives me a renewed energy. A retored sense (or lack of) to try the impractical, challenge the impossible, fight the very battles that cannot be won.

From Shakespeare's Henry V, 1598:

Henry V
This story shall the good man teach his son;
And Crispin Crispian shall ne'er go by,
From this day to the ending of the world,
But we in it shall be remember'd;
We few, we happy few, we band of brothers;
For he to-day that sheds his blood with me
Shall be my brother; be he ne'er so vile,
This day shall gentle his condition:
And gentlemen in England now a-bed
Shall think themselves accursed they were not here,
And hold their manhoods cheap whiles any speaks
That fought with us upon Saint Crispin's day.