The library connects us with the insight and knowledge, painfully extracted from Nature, of the greatest minds that ever were, with the best teachers, drawn from the entire planet and from all our history, to instruct us without tiring, and to inspire us to make our own contribution to the collective knowledge of the human species. I think the health of our civilization, the depth of our awareness about the underpinnings of our culture and our concern for the future can all be tested by how well we support our libraries.
quote by Carl Sagan
Submitted by Catalin Popescu
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Sonnet: On Knowledge
Knowledge is one thing priceless, people want;
Knowledge is something gained by labor long;
Knowledge is infinite; master, you-can't;
Knowledge is changeable, much like a song.
Knowledge is deeper than the oceans deep;
Knowledge is larger than the Universe;
Knowledge is barely in life, just a peep;
Knowledge if badly used becomes God's curse.
Knowledge remains undiminished, tho' you- share;
Knowledge gives man, a civilised outlook;
Knowledge if improper, you ought to pare;
Knowledge is gained from Nature and by book.
Knowledge can make a man a wiser one;
Knowledge gives Wisdom in the longer run.
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Western civilization, unfortunately, does not link knowledge and morality but rather, it connects knowledge and power and makes them equivalent.
quote by Vine Deloria
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Knowledge
What happens to our knowledge
when we pass from here?
Will it be buried with us
for an eternity to be undisturbed,
or do we leave tracks
of our knowledge behind?
Great minds have already written down
things they did not want to forget.
Is it possible that great knowledge
is gathering dust somewhere
in those forgotten chapters
of our history?
Leonardo Da Vinci’s drawings
of airplanes and submarines.
Were they just fanciful dreams,
or were they reality?
Could these things have existed,
but of their presence in history
this knowledge for them departed?
What about Atlantis
with its knowledge unbound.
Did it really disappear
beneath the waves without a sound,
and the knowledge that they held,
did that all vanish with them?
We can only speculate
where all this knowledge goes
as new minds dream of things
that may have existed in the past.
Which leaves us with the question,
what happens to our knowledge
when we pass away from here?
4 September 2008
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Teachers Challenge
It's time for the public to open up their eyes
Without the teachers how will our kids survive
What will happen to our children if they
don't have an education
They are the foundation of this great nation.
The teachers all had a dream and a goal
To teach the public young and old.
They had learned early in college
That they must gain daily knowledge.
Every day they challenge their minds
With new knowledge that they find
It does not matter what the topic may be
It all goes down into history.
They work hard at what they do
Teaching our kids and their kids too.
Teaching is not an easy task
not all kids learn that fast.
Then there are those with special needs
With which the teachers plant their seeds.
They are given a lot more patience
And a lot more care, so with them
The teachers do share.
Now is the time that money should be given
So that they can earn a decent living.
poem by Louis Rams
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Where Do I Come From?
Where do I come from? I do not know,
For it was taken away before I could see. What
is my name? I do not know, because it was taken
away from me before I was born. Who am I? I will never know, for the
culture of who I am and would have been, was
stripped away from lack of understanding. What is my past?
The knowledge to know that people, doing the hating
and despising are the very same people that share
my family roots. Who am I? This I do know a person that
will never have knowledge, of what it would be
like to have a culture and a country, a past with
a positive history! Where do I go? I do not know, for there
is far more prejudice than ever against a people,
with no country and no culture, stuck in the middle
of a melting pot society. What do I do? All I can do is hope,
hope that one day, it won't matter what color
you are, and it won't matter where you come from.
It doesn't matter what you look like, that people
wake up and accept a person by how one is treated. What is my future?
To pass this knowledge to my children, for it
is the only thing left, that was not taken from me.
And it is the only thing of value in this life
I can give, this gift to my child.
poem by Be' Ver Lee Houston
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Teachers Affect Eternity
Tolerant, supportive and sympathetic teachers are the best
While most seem ideal, some shouldn't teach at all.
Great teachers find their work fruitful and rewarding
As they pass on their knowledge with love as their call.
Good physical and mental health are important
For teachers must have energy, stamina and determination.
To shoulder their duties as shepherds of thought
Passing on wisdom to each generation.
In the words of Henry Adams, ' Teachers affect eternity
You can never tell where their influence will cease.'
As the teachers of the Bible spread their message
Their students learned of war, faith, love, death and peace.
Teachers world over have the same basic goal
To help others mature, reason, accomplish and grow.
They instruct, inform, debate and discipline
Teaching the rudiments of life we should know.
Wise and Wisdom
The nature of wisdom,
The nature of insight is such that
If you know that something is good and
You don’t do it, you loose your insight.
If you want to develop wisdom and deep insight,
Put into practice as soon as possible what
You understand to be right thing to do.
If you do just this one thing I assure you that you
can develop your deep spiritual qualities.
Be more mindful, your mind will tell you;
The right thing to do.
No matter how much;
we know if we don’t put it into practice,
what is the point of knowledge.
Learning a few things at a time, and
immediately putting them into practice.
That is the most important thing to do,
Don’t wait for more knowledge.
Do what you know right now,
That will make you know more and more.
Wise person becomes wiser;
When they do what they know now and it will make it easier
For you to do the next thing.
Take small steps to improve ourselves every day,
Consistently and with determination,
It gets easier as you go on.
As long as you head in the right direction and
Keep going you’ll get there.
(adapted from A Map of the journey by Sayadaw U Jotika)
poem by Lawrence Hiung
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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A Good Education Need Of The Hour!
Education decides about the future life and work for all;
Education only helps to develop one’s life and work here.
Mere education is not passport to get job but it’s for life;
Mere education helps not to face life situation or crisis;
Common sense, presence of mind, general knowledge do!
For everything education is the base in the modern world;
Education is for freedom, development and fulfilment in life;
Education helps intellectual mind to acquire true knowledge.
Knowledge only can give power, freedom and satisfaction;
Knowledge of love, truth gives freedom to attain perfection.
Dharma is justice to live righteous life according to one’s nature;
Religion is to say about truth of God, dharma and culture to all;
Education is to help develop one’s capacity with apt knowledge
To express talent using ideas of knowledge in duty to do things
Beneficial to oneself, society to achieve joyful fulfilment in life!
Now education does not serve such purpose but crams knowledge
Incomplete just to do specialised jobs only for material benefits.
Complete knowledge makes link of science, literature and culture;
This could satisfy body, mind, heart and soul to achieve completion;
Love and knowledge make perfect to attain joy, peace, satisfaction!
poem by Ramesh T A
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Knowledge
Insight to what's going on
Information keeps us strong
What you don't know can hurt you bad
Take it from me you'll be walkin around sad
Cryin for a better day
Until you educate for a better way
So if you wanna be in control
Ya gotta get yourself in the know
Get the knowledge
That you really want
The knowledge
Do you really want
It's the knowledge
What you really want
The knowledge
That you really want
Spreading vise don't believe the hype
You don't find the knowledge in a pipe
Too many lives go up in smoke
It's nice to laugh but don't be the joke
To get over get better
Try to be the possessor
Of the one thing we all need in life
To succeed take my advice
Get the knowledge
That you really want
The knowledge
Do you really want
It's the knowledge
What you really want
The knowledge
That you really want
Prejudice No!
Ignorance No!
Bigotry No!
Illiteracy No!
Listen it's up to everyone
If we're gonna change the way the world is run
The way to start is to rid the children of
Prejudice and ignorance
We've gotta teach our kids to read and write
That's the only way to win this fight for life
Education is the goal so
If you wanna be in the know
Get the knowledge
It's the one thing we all need in life
song performed by by Janet Jackson from Rhythm Nation 1814
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Who You Are
Who you are is equivalent to the knowledge
that you obtain throughout your life
and the passion you have for using and
sharing that knowledge with other people.
It is with this knowledge
that we create our own future
and the future for those to come.
I strongly believe that every bit of knowledge I have gained
has been connected to everything I have done,
everyone I have known, and all I will do in my life.
poem by F.L. Racca Sr.
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The History of Now
The recording of culture is history;
but our culture is more than that.
It's the world of human action,
and the myths we make of the fact.
The recording of history is culture,
but our history is more than that.
It informs a hidden agenda.
Unconscious of motive we act.
It's the history of now, the history of now.
It's only the present that exists as endowed.
It's the history of now. The moment - KAPOW!
That knocks you right over and muddies your brow.
Through the prism of language, we know what we know.
We carry our baggage and stories of woe.
Victor and vanquished pride cannot budge,
the dead weight of hatred and ancestral grudge.
We fight our good fights with our hand on our heart;
the music is swelling as loved ones depart.
As sheep to the slaughter, the script cannot chart,
a course more ignoble: the propagandist's art.
The recording of history is culture,
but our culture is more than that.
More than the great individuals,
the scholars so love in their tracts.
The recording of culture is history;
but our history is more than that.
Not simple dates or statistics,
the full horror and gore still attracts.
It's the history of now, the history of now.
A strange contradiction that makes sense somehow.
It's the history of now, a mystery and shroud.
The past and the future: best fiction allowed.
poem by David SmithWhite
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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End Of All Things
Every city has its history.
History of great wars!
History of great works!
What makes a civilization great
Are the noble thoughts of noble men.
Savages are killed
And the empires built!
Draping of huge towers and artistic halls
Decorate the ageing
Frame of the ever-growing city.
Ballads are sung
For great many victories and achievements
Of great many kings!
But no one cares
To sing an Elegy
Of love lost
In the busy alleys
Of the towering cities!
Today,
Things worth nothing are everything.
People known since ages are now unknown.
Thoughts like parasites
Thrive on the dying emotions of heart.
Churches are libraries of knowledge.
And Bible just a fiction.
Man has ceased to live.
Only thing that he does is ‘EXISTS.’
His creations are the prophecies of his fall!
Civilization is built
On the debris of Barbarism.
It grows.
It develops.
And it culminates
To nothing but debris.
Because the highest peak
Of every civilization is Barbarism!
End of all things!
poem by Aditya Chandrasen Salvi
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Those worlds in space are as countless as all the grains of sand on all the beaches of the earth. Each of those worlds is as real as ours and every one of them is a succession of incidents, events, occurrences which influence its future. Countless worlds, numberless moments, an immensity of space and time. And our small planet at this moment, here we face a critical branch point in history, what we do with our world, right now, will propagate down through the centuries and powerfully affect the destiny of our descendants, it is well within our power to destroy our civilization and perhaps our species as well. If we capitulate to superstition or greed or stupidity we could plunge our world into a time of darkness deeper than the time between the collapse of classical civilization and the Italian Renaissance. But we are also capable of using our compassion and our intelligence, our technology and our wealth to make an abundant and meaningful life for every inhabitant of this planet.
quote by Carl Sagan
Submitted by anonym
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Billions Billions Alive Today
Officially half of all the human beings
who have ever lived are alive today.
The entire population of all human history
an equivalent of all humans who ever lived.
Half entire human race who were ever born
are alive on earth now living on earth today.
Asia China India regionally 2.5 billion alive today
in fifty years Asian population will double triple?
In fifty years planet earth will need to produce more
food than has presently by humans ever been eaten?
Are these food figures statistics not impossible odds?
Famine pestilence war pandemics what future awaits?
Will compassion seeds flower in collective soul humanity?
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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The Fool Says In His Heart
The fool says in his heart
'There is no God'
Of the Divine he has no part
For Humanity is all he had.
Wisdom never wakes in him,
And Insight is ever blind,
Depth of knowledge, all it seems
The seeking fool will never find.
For Knowledge of the Holy
And reverent fear of the Lord
Is the Beginning of all Wisdom
Thus is written in His Word.
poem by Cynthia Buhain-Baello
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Heroes to me are guys that sit in libraries. They absorb knowledge and then the risks they take are calculated on the basis of the courage it took to become replete with knowledge.
quote by William Hurt
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Civilization Purpose Secrets
massive complex
inter-dimensional
works of art
civilization
composite layers
superimposed
complexities
civilization
strata shifts
origins not readings
theory civilizations
products transitions
origins thoughts
desires quests
comings of ages
hunter gather
stone ages
metal worker
agrarian societies
empire expansions
industrial revolutions
ideas as thought keys
imagination solutions
knowledge time quests
thoughts fathers to deeds
knowledge transformation seeds
civilizations society believes
minds power creations
minds fuel transformations
minds manifest changes
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Orientalism II (Dialogue Ensues)
You have grown in certain techniques
I lagged because I did not consider them worthy
You scored
You branded
You added
Morality
And value judgment
On conduct
Ways and means of living
And robbed the continents
Dug treasures and sold them
In the name of spice trade
You brought certain knowledge
Of post Newtonian era
To which I too was a contributor
Then you handed over the banner
After much malice
To people of the new world
I am standing in front
Of nature and jungles and lands
Devoured by you
I discover my own eloquence
And language
And culture
And civilization
Much richer past
Much promising future
I am learning from you
How to make a nuclear bomb
3/11/2009
poem by Sadiqullah Khan
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Perception Is A Window Into Intuition
Judgement is affirmed in experience tested
belief supplemented with appropriate research
knowledge instigated sustained with insight.
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Sonnet: Knowledge
Deny thee Knowledge never in this world,
Which is something better than even gold;
He is a fool, who knowledge never gains,
Remaining so forever if he feigns.
Knowledge makes a human very wise,
Scholarly, good in demeanor and nice;
Knowledge helps man to know the universe,
And goads him earn more wealth to fill purse.
Knowledge makes a man more cultured in life,
Gives him the courage to overcome strife;
Knowledge takes him near to the Maker;
Man knows God’s love for His beloved creature.
Gaining knowledge is a must in this world,
And helps him always till he is too old!
poem by John Celes
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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