There is something universal in the theme of a man trying to save his family in the midst of the most terrible circumstances. It is not limited to Sierra Leone. This story could apply to any number of places where ordinary people have been caught up in political events beyond their control.
quote by Edward Zwick
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Related quotes
Oliva
I am from Sierra Leone and Oliva is my name,
But with words of war that saw my past!
For many are now dead and gone,
But the diamonds still remain under the earth.
Oh Sierra Leone! ! It was all because of Diamonds;
And i am a 13 year-old who has lost both arms,
And i am now pregnant to the very Rebel who maimed me.
How can i give birth and be able to hold my child?
And of the mass rape of the women to think of;
The wide spread of amputation of the limbs,
And of the toddlers whose arms are chopped off too!
Oh Sierra Leone! !
How the diamonds came and made me sad.
poem by Edward Kofi Louis
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I think they do have to get it right in Sierra Leone. There has to be something in there now to establish confidence, to stabilize the situation, and then to move to some sort of political negotiations.
quote by Alex Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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She Ain't Your Ordinary Girl
(Robert Jason)
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
She don't love carelessly that's what I've always heard
'Can't use the usual lines she measures every word
No empty promises proof is what it takes to win her heart
The truth and nothing less, simple things that set her far apart
Save your diamonds and your furs she's not your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary, no she's not
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary, oh no
She ain't your ordinary girl
No midnight alibis, no foolish games for her
And if you cross the line you'll get what you deserve
But when you see her smile nothing seems to matter anymore
And in a little while you'll feel like you've never felt before
Like no other in the world, she's not your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary, no she's not
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary, oh no
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
Save your diamonds and your furs, she ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
She ain't your ordinary
She ain't your ordinary girl
song performed by by Alabama
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Universal Traveler
Universal Traveler - Air
(Talkie Walkie; Trans. by Tish)
I know so many
Places in the world
I follow the sun
In my silver plane
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
If you have a look
Outside on the sea
Everything is white
It's so wonderful
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
So far
So far
So far away
I met so many
People in my life
I've got many friends
Who can care for me
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Trust fills everywhere ?
And tomorrow
Is a brand new day
Let's go somewhere else
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
Universal traveler
So far
So far
So far away
So far
So far
So far away
So far
So far
So far away
So far
So far
So far away
song performed by by Air
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Sierra, Sierra
Sierra, sierra
Tell me where is this place you are from
You speak of a land
Filled with warm sea and sand
And the ladies who lie in the sun
Sierra, sierra
Your distant lights fading away
Crossing those stars to the music and bars
Sierra, is it just like you say ?
Sheep counting never worked well
Since the day that I fell
For your ****** dreams
Of a thousand this worlds so *******
And Im pulsed to the wind
At the sight of the song and the sea
Strange cigarettes
Clothes so warm and so wet
You can see through so quite easily
Sierra, sierra
Sierra, sierra,
Please tell me youll stay
Sierra, sierra,
Till night turns to day
I got so many dreams they can never run dry
My bedrooms becoming a crates on the sky
Filled with dancing tequilas and chickens on spits
White-shirted waiters and girls with big tails
Love in the night in the ways of moonlight
Sierra, please tell me it fits
song performed by by Chris Rea
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ordinary
Whose eyes am I behind?
I don't recognize anything that I see
Whose skin is this design?
I don't want this to be the way that you see me
I don't understand anything anymore
And this web that I'm tired of
Is taking me right up these walls
That I climb up to get to your story
It's anything but ordinary
And when the world is on its knees with me
It's fine
And when I come to the rescue
I get nothing but left behind
Everybody seems to be getting what they need
Where's mine?
'Cause you're what I need so badly
But I'm anything but ordinary
Can you save me from this world of mine?
Before I get myself arrested with this expectation
You are the one, look what you've done
What have you done?
This is not some kind of joke, you're just a kid
You weren't ready for what you did, no . . .
And when the world is on its knees with me
It's fine
And when I come to the rescue
I do it for you time after time
Everybody seems to be getting what they need
Where's mine?
'Cause you're what I need so badly
But I'm anything but ordinary
I think I'm trying to save the world for you
You've been saving me too
We could just stay in and save each other
I'm anything but ordinary
I'm anything but ordinary (ordinary . . .)
song performed by by Train
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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I would hate to see operations in the Congo held hostage to Sierra Leone but I really think that's the way it's got to be. At one point we've got to decide to get it right and we've got to be professional.
quote by Alex Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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In Sierra Leone last year there was just the two of us hanging out of a helicopter and, when we were in Bosnia, I drove an armoured vehicle, thousands of miles.
I like the tradition of ordinary men in extraordinary circumstances and how they react to events which force them to be heroic in a way that is not in their natures.
quote by Rob Lowe
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
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Circumstances give in reality to every political principle its distinguishing color and discriminating effect. The circumstances are what render every civil and political scheme beneficial or noxious to mankind.
quote by Edmund Burke
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Circumstances give in reality to every political principle, its distinguishing colour, and discriminating effect. The circumstances are what render every civil and political scheme beneficial or noxious to mankind.
quote by David Trimble
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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However, I think, first of all, that what's happening in Sierra Leone is going to have the great influence on those governments who will be asked to provide forces to the Congo. Second, of course, the Security Council has no professional military advice organized in any way.
quote by Alex Morrison
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Ordinary Story
egoism dictates human relations
a world where fashion outshines morality
here success is written in blood-red colours
designed by the thirst for power
gather the faithful and propose a toast
to the epoch of indifference
an all to ordinary story
with aftertaste so bitter
forced to be someone I don't want to be
I'm losing myself. sinking deeper down
I'm caught in the world wound web
a time represented by the void
an excuse without content
stuck in the abyss of existence
with a content void of excuse
an all to ordinary story
this is my story
with an aftertaste so bitter
sinking deeper down
I'm caught - I'm cage
I'm gone
song performed by by In Flames
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Universal Daddy
If you want a new connection
Ill be just a step away
Come on move in my direction
Leave your dollshouse at the breaking of the day
Get this message from your heartbeat
Theres an ally you can trust
Youve been searching for adventure
Follow me, lets take the golden path.
Theres a universal daddy for everyone
From universal kingdom number one
He sends his universal angels
Through the air
To universal dreamers
Everywhere
Blowing kisses!!
Any girl from any nation
Any boy could drive my car
Ill supply the next sensation
Itll happen if you wish upon a star
Throwing stones against your windows
Dont pretend youre not at home
You can meet me if you want me
But Id like to meet you all alone...
Theres a universal daddy
For everyone
From universal kingdom
Number one
He sends his universal angels
Through the air
To universal dreamers
Everywhere
Blowing kisses!!
song performed by by Alphaville
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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It's based around a Jewish family but it really is a universal theme about getting along and coming along.
quote by Jami Gertz
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Meeting Challenges In New Places
loneliness, tears, change, new places
change, especially in new places,
is a time to think, reach out to others...
extend, the hand, of friendship, anew
to break, the ice stranger is up to you,
sincere people, will respond it’s true...
many face, endure, similar circumstances
many face, embrace vibrant new experiences,
attitude positive, negative impacts circumstances...
poem by Terence George Craddock
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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I'm like a decathlete who does all of the events he's used to, but is being forced by certain circumstances to focus on three events, and being forced to focus on events that he wasn't that interested in, and also weren't his strongest events.
quote by Michael Nyman
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Alley
Apply, apply
no reply.
I do not know
how to apply
what to apply
I do not know
whether I am
eligible to apply
I do not know
whether there is
age limit to apply
I do not know
what is the
last date to apply.
Apply, apply
no reply.
And you find a fly
in this alley.
poem by Gajanan Mishra
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Beguiled By Circumstances
I am feeling beguiled by circumstances
well out of my control
tossed around like a rag doll
or a ship in rough seas.
I know the discomfort of loneliness
with only a game of solitaire to play
and each hand
drifting into the next
in an effort
to comfort my soul.
I feel lost in a blizzard
that numbs you to the bones
with winds taking my breath
away from me.
I feel isolated at times
no one there to hear my words
in desperations calling
gripped with fear
of falling into an unknown.
Friends are far away
well out of fingers touch
and I feel like a drowning man
within a sea of thoughts
with nothing to grasp hold of
within the fragments of my memory.
I am feeling beguiled by circumstances
well out of my control.
Is it a phase I am going through
or just a monumental shift
by some unseen device?
I know not what will save me
from a fate I am heading for.
I just have to coast along
on the winds of change in me,
and along the hills of despair
where the winds are taking me.
I am lost in a mire
oppressed at every turn
looking out at anything
and everything
wondering which way to go.
Beguiled by circumstances
well out of control.
Inside voices are calling
their words subdued
and muted
by some unseen force.
Where am I going?
Nothing answers me.
Alone I stand in silence
beguiled by circumstances
well out of my control.
13 March 2009
poem by David Harris
Submitted by Poetry Lover
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Ordinary People
Star:
I am the image maker. I am the magic
Maker. I can turn the most ordinary
Man in the world into a star. to prove
My point I am going to find the most
Mundane little man and turn him into
Celebrity. hmm! this looks like a
Suitably uninteresting house. I wonder
If theres anybody here with enough
Star quality?
He presses the doorbell.
Star:
Hello. whats your name?
Wife:
Andrea.
Star:
Oh, thats a nice name. whats your
Husbands name?
Wife:
Norman.
Star:
His names norman. that sounds
Ordinary enough. I would like you to
Join in a unique experiment with me.
I am going to take normans place for
A few days. I m going to research his
Ordinary dull little existence.
Wife:
Oh you cant come in now! the place
Is in a terrible mess!
Star:
That doesnt matter. I want you to act
Normally. I want you to treat me as if i
Were norman. I am going to sacrifice
My normal flamboyant life style and
Become ordinary, boring little norman
For a few days.
Ordinary people
Its like another world, being here with you,
Its quite a trip for me, so this is reality.
Im studying every movement, Im trying to learn the part,
Now I want you to be natural, just relax and be as you are,
cos its all for art, I want to observe the ordinary people
Tomorrow I shall become norman,
I shall go to his office,
Mix with his workmates.
And if they ask any questions
I shall say Im doing research for one of my songs.
Nomand and I are changing places
And Im going to make him a star,
So Im throwing away my stage suit and Im packing away my guitar,
For the sake of art Im gonna mix with the ordinary people.
Star:
God these pyjamas are awful!
Wife:
Awful? well all I can say is my norman wears them every night.
Star:
Alright, no sacrifice is too great for art!
The things Ive done for music,
The things Ive done for art.
So Ill make these sacrifices and Ill take it like a star
For the sake of art I will mix with the ordinary people.
Star:
Youd better come to bed darling.
Wife:
Coming! youll never get up for work in the morning.
Im making observations, and character simulations.
Ill mix with his friends and relations,
And hell be a part of me.
Chorus
Hes changing places with norman,
To get background for his songs.
Im immortalising his life
And Ill even sleep with his wife,
For the sake of art Ill go to bed like the ordinary people.
Turn out the light.
Turn out the light.
The star exchanges his silver stage
Suit for normans pin stripe suit,
Umbrella and briefcase. he forsakes
His customary brandy and cigars and
Settles for a cup of hot chocolate before
Going to bed.
song performed by by Kinks
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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