Without history we are the prisoners of the accident of where and when we were born.
quote by Donald Kagan
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Related quotes
Fundamental of Liar Chapter LXXXII: Accident
It’s not a terrorist attack
It’s not a battle of war
It’s just an accident
It’s not natural disaster
It’s not global tragedy
It’s just an accident
It’s not a conspiracy theory
It’s not a character murder
It’s just an accident
It’s not a careless mistake
It’s not a wrong decision
It’s just an accident
It’s not a misfortune
It’s not a twisted fate
It’s just an accident
It’s not a planned piracy
It’s not a suicide party
It’s just an accident
It’s not a mechanical failure
It’s not a human error
It’s just an accident
It’s not a crash
It’s not a downfall
It’s just an accident
poem by Maria Sudibyo
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
P.O.W. (Prisoners Of War)
Locked up in a cell
The prisoners of war light the fuse to the dynamite
The door is blasted off the hinges
The prisoners of war escape through the opening where the door was
Enemy soldiers, one by one, are notified
And one by one
They try to take down the prisoners of war
War isn't pretty
War is hell
The enemy soldiers break out the guns and knives
Ready to take the prisoners of war down
But the prisoners of war do a wonderful job of fighting and staying alive
More enemy soldiers are dispatched
Some climb down or dropp off ladders
Some flip and somersault
Some continue walking and running on the ground
After dispatching the enemy soldiers
The prisoners of war climb the ladder
To where they can plan their escape
To where they can make their escape
To where they can escape in a helicopter
Leaving the life of war far behind
poem by Justin Gildow
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Reggae Accident
Reggae accident
By: lucas p. gravell
1993
-- spoken:
Okay now, get ready heres your part. now listen to me.
It was a reggae accident
I said a reggae accident
I cant here you
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
Now make room for the band
A reggae accident
Here they come here they come
A reggae accident
I say make room for them
A reggae accident
Ha ha, look out now
It was a reggae accident
A reggae accident
This is not a political statement
Nor is it a farce
In the land of the great bald bird
The rasta man is sparse
He does not like our urban jungle
Or our capitalistic nightmare
He does not believe in auto insurance
Mon I dont believe that is fair
It was a reggae accident
Four rastas in a rambler
A reggae accident
They came from out of nowhere
A reggae accident
They were smoking some spliff cigars
A reggae accident
They totaled out my car
I lost the case that sealed my fate
Last week in municipal court
The judge ruled for rasta restitution
Of a most peculiar sort
Now theres four stoned faces at my dinner table
And my wife wonders how come
She does not mind the extra mouths to feed
As much as she minds those after dinner drums
We sing was a reggae accident
Four rastas eating pasta
A reggae accident
Pass the parmesan please
A reggae accident
How does a rasta spell relief
A reggae accident
No problem mon, pass the spliff
Oh reggae down...
Now the sun shines on the isle of jamaica
As its done since time began
No problem says the rasta mon
When I asked to join his band
You see I sold my house I quit my job
I left that narrow-minded wife
And I moved to the island of jamaica ya
Just to live that rasta life
It was a reggae accident
Four rastas in a rambler
A reggae accident
They came from out of nowhere
A reggae accident
They were smoking some spliff cigars
A reggae accident
Now Ive become a rasta star
It was a reggae accident
Look out world
A reggae accident
You know the harder they come
A reggae accident
The harder they fall one and all
A reggae accident
It was just an accident one day
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
A reggae accident
-- spoken:
Come back, come back to jamaica
Come back to the way things used to be
Ya, ya lets play some dominoes now mon
Come on...
song performed by by Jimmy Buffett
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The History Of Tomorrow
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our leaders fulfilled a promise of light
By dumping us in the dark with pits everywhere
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our leaders fulfilled a promise of food
By asking us to chop several fire-woods to heat up a pot full of stones
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our leaders fulfilled a promise of job creation
By making us slaves on our own soil
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our leaders fulfilled a promise of education
By dumping us in dilapidated buildings without teachers
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our leaders fulfilled a promise of accountability
By looting our treasury and asking us for yet another term in office
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our leaders fulfilled a promise of safety
By leaving pot holes large enough to swallow countless accident victims on our roads
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of how our bows and arrows
Would secure our future
I want to tell you the history of tomorrow
It’s the history of a country, a country with countless heroes
It’s the history of a country, a country with countless robbers
Robbers with fame
Robbers without shame
Robbers that we would roast with flame
© Adegbenro Adekunle Jacob
Tomorrow’s history is today. All world leaders must make real democracy work. They must be selfless. We must not wait until there is horror and terror before we learn. Nigerian leaders must shun CORRUPTION.
poem by Adegbenro Adekunle
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
An Accidental Man
(music: marillion lyrics: john helmer)
I was taught from the much too young
To never give myself away
Yes I was taught for every secret
Theres a price you have to pay
An accident of gender
An accident of birth
That holds me to this point of view
This time and place on earth
This time and place on earth
You ask me how Im feeling
I only wish you knew
How hard it is for me to share
Share those kind of things with you
Its not that I dont love you
Its just I cant connect
cause I was taught from much too young
To shine and not reflect
Im an accidental man
You ask me if Im happy
I only wish I knew
cause happiness is not something
That I ever learned to do
Its not that Im complaining
Its all the same to me
If everything that happens, happens
Accidentally
Im an accidental man
I was taught for every secret
Theres a price you have to pay
I was thought from much too young
To never give myself away
I was born to worthy causes
I was born to take the reins
I was taught from much too young
To never give myself away
An accident of gender
An accident of birth
That holds me to this point of view
This time and place on earth
So try and understand if
I dont say all I can
A stranger to myself I am
An accidental man
Im an accident
Im an accidental man
song performed by by Marillion
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
The earth? A cosmic accident. The life? A chemical accident. The man? A biological accident.
aphorism by Valeriu Butulescu, translated by Dan Costinaş
Submitted by Dan Costinaş
Vote! | Copy! | In Spanish | In Italian | In Romanian
I began to feel that, in a sense, we were all prisoners of our own history.
quote by Roland Joffe
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
A Smile's Sacrifies
Chains around my neck
rope around my throat
dazzles in the sun as i breathe
tightenings in the air
as i grasp for breath
cuffs on my arms as i am isolated
shackles on me limiting my movements
i often wander how big a step
have we taking to move forward
my ancestors thought for the freedom
for my freedom and did it with a smile
and though life has changed
yet we are all prisoners
prisoners of the mind
our ancestor kept a smile
in belief that rain came
after every drought no
matter how long
a wise man one said
not cause we are prisoners
should we act like prisoners
because in the end all that matters
is the smile on the face of someone
to show everyone there is still hope
poem by Robert Roberts
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
India
(to Sumit Chakrabarty)
India is not just India, even from before I was born,
India has been my history.
My history, carved into two by daggers of animosity and hatred, running breathlessly towards uncertain possibilities,
with the terrible crack at the core,
History bloodstained, history turned death.
It is this India that has given me language,
Has enriched me with culture
And powerful dreams.
This India can, if it so desires, snatch
My history away from my life,
My homeland from my dream.
But why should I let it drain me dry only because it so desires?
Hasn't India brought forth those noble souls,
Who place their hands today on my tired shoulders,
On the abandoned shoulders of this helpless, orphaned soul?
These hands, longer than the land, stretched beyond space and time,
Gives me warmly cherished security against all worldly cruelties.
Madanjeet Singh, Mahasweta Devi, Muchukund Dube—they are my homeland today,
Their hearts my true country.
[This poem was written while Taslima was forced to live in confinement in an undisclosed location in Delhi from 22 November 2007 to 19 March 2008. Samik Bandapadahya translated this poem from her book PRISONERS POEMS]
poem by Taslima Nasrin
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
My awareness
I know when the Taj Mahal was built.
When did my grandfather build my house?
I know when King Asoka was born.
When was my grandfather born?
I know the world history, not my family history.
21.10.2005
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Taking On
It was a fast
against truth, in support
of unbidden body
which took the history lesson.
A star is born
out of midnight accident.
Darkness deems dark
in siege of self-restraint.
An embattled self
seeks a counting. The money
speaks in absence, to clear
the debt of tears.
No longer
the eyes will look at
the marriage of trans-blue veins
in legs of seedless dreams.
poem by Satish Verma
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Men are not prisoners of fate, but only prisoners of their own minds.
Franklin Delano Roosevelt in Pan American Day address (15 April 1939)
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy! | In Romanian
Beauty is always the result of an accident. Of a violent lapse between acquired habits and those yet to be acquired. It baffles and disgusts. It may even horrify. Once the new habit has been acquired, the accident ceases to be an accident. It becomes classical and loses its shock value.
quote by Jean Cocteau
Submitted by Veronica Serbanoiu
Vote! | Copy!
I have to say when we talk about the treatment of these prisoners that I would guess that these prisoners wake up every morning thanking Allah that Saddam Hussein is not in charge of these prisons.
quote by James Inhofe
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
Black History Month
In January...
There they are making history.
In February...
There they are making history.
In March...
There they are making history.
In April...
There they are making history.
In May...
There they are making history.
In June...
There they are making history.
In July...
There they are making history.
In August...
There they are making history.
In September...
There they are making history.
In October...
There they are making history.
In November...
There they are making history.
In December...
There they are making history.
But...
It's nice to know
The shortest month of the year
Was chosen to celebrate
The great deeds of African-Americans!
However...
It is those LEAP YEARS,
That really have the blacks jumping for joy!
Note: 'Black History Month' along with other
works of interest can be found in...
*'MindPrints from Untouched Places-VOL I'*
~Now available online at a PC near you~
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
Meaning Of Life
What is the meaning of life
Is it to be born and then to die
To that question once again I have thought
As once again for that answer I have sought.
Just to understand just why we are here
Is it to bring joy and hopefully not a tear
to live strong each and every day
And then every night to kneel and pray.
Is it to see how far that we can go
Or how much knowledge we can place in our soul
Is it to marry and then take a husband or a wife
Or is it just simply to help others with their strife.
As I look out my window and as I do think
Life can either end or begin with just a wink
We are here and then we can be gone
And after all in the end we are all but just one.
Is it just an accident that we are born
Was it an accident that our world was formed
Are there a reason that we are here to stand
Truly I wish to that question I could just understand.
To understand our life and our being
Many have said that research is never ending
As there is no true answer just why we are here
And if there was would our hope and wonder disappear.
As I think to myself could life itself be just a test
To see how far we make it in life's quest.
Where our soul and conscience is the preacher
And then GOD himself is our Teacher.
Randy L. McClave
poem by Randy McClave
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The last three books are much more a case of a moment of history, what happened almost by accident or coincidence, like being in the same elevator or lifeboat.
quote by Michael Ondaatje
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
History why do we care
History
a famous person dies
History
a war rages
History
a new invention
History
a building opens
History
what happens if something happens to me
is that history?
no....
So why do we care.....
poem by Andrea Thepoet
Submitted by Poetry Lover
Vote! | Copy!
The Communist regime didn't consider this to be a shining moment in history and assigned no heroism to it. They classified it as merely an accident.
quote by Kathryn Bigelow
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!
So be it. God created profoundly fallible creatures on this earth, and human history is mostly the story of error and accident.
quote by Michael Ledeen
Submitted by Lucian Velea
Vote! | Copy!