The Thieves of Honor
The Phony Hero, the fake marine
with stolen valor, bemedalled chests.
These are the lowest of the low
Who steal the honor due our best.
Those who never took the field
Who never had to face the foe
Common thieves usurp the medals
owed to men who lie in rows.
True heroes lie in Arlington,
Or in a hundred foreign fields
Or else live private quiet lives’
And never speak about their deeds.
The thieves of honor think to gain
high office by casuistry.
But they will only garner shame
Once we expose their perfidy.
poem by John F. McCullagh
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Related quotes
The Thief of Honor
The Thief of Honor
The Phony Hero, the fake marine
with their stolen valor, bemedalled chests.
These are the lowest of the low
Who steal the honors of our best.
Those who never took the field
Never came face to face with death.
Presume to wear the highest honors
And campaign ribbons on their chests.
True heroes lie in Arlington,
Or in a hundred foreign fields
Or else live quiet private lives’
And never boast about their deeds.
The thieves of honor think to gain
high office from their pilfery.
But they will only garner shame
Once we expose their perfidy.
poem by John F. McCullagh
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Hospitable Hosts
To thieve and take,
May increase one's social status...
Among thieves.
And there are plenty who fake,
Being more than just thieves.
But a gathering of thieves does not perfume the air.
No matter what is used to diffuse the stench...
Many are proud to stink so loudly.
As viewed with noses lifted high in despair.
To thieve and take,
May increase one's social status...
Among thieves.
And there are plenty who fake,
Being more than just thieves.
Some even pretend to be humanitarian.
If not tax deducting philanthropers.
However...
Those who know they are straight up crooks,
Are the most entertaining and hospitable hosts.
They ensure everyone is provided comfort.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Your Hero
The heroes of the masses they live for their renown
And the masses create their heroes and then drag their heroes down
And the masses are unpredictable they change from day to day
And some of their heroes like the Autumn flowers are quick to fade away.
Yet there are millions of unsung heroes and they live on every street
And every day a hero I feel privileged to meet
True heroes male and female yet by the masses unsung
The World is full of heroes of heroes old and young.
Some heroes of the masses are arrogant and proud
And their egos over-swollen from the adulation of the crowd
But give me the unsung heroes who go their own quiet way
Who out of the kindness of their hearts perform one good deed every day.
Many heroes of the masses are not heroes to me
Though every day I walk the street some true hero I do see
Your hero is chauffeur driven and drinks the most expensive wine
And you can have your hero but your hero isn't mine.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Honor among thieves is the ancestor of all honor.
quote by John McCarthy
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Lord Buddha begged.
The society has more thieves than beggars.
In a way, beggars are better than thieves.
They beg but steal not and get but usurp not.
Mortgaging their ego, they are begging.
It is easy to steal but hard to beg.
Give or not, don’t treat beggars with contempt.
Do treat them at par while you give them alms.
Feel elated while you offer them alms.
While giving, dispel their humiliation.
Lord Buddha too led His life as a beggar.
19.10.2007
poem by Rm. Shanmugam Chettiar
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The Empty Tomb
In Arlington, where valor sleeps,
there is a marble Tomb
where heroes rest whose names are known
to God and God alone.
From Korea and the fields of France
Brought here to hallowed sleep
The unknowns of our nation's wars
Are honored with a wreath.
One body from the tomb is gone-
He served in Vietnam.
The mystery of identity
Found in a shard of bone
Rededicate his empty crypt
To the missing of that war-
To honor and keep faith with them
who never have come home.
poem by John F. McCullagh
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Heores
Heroes
Being a hero means little to me,
For I have see men labeled as a coward die as a heroes
And men called heroes run like cowards.
A name means nothing when it is all outside
And being called a hero is only a name.
For I have seen countless men live and die,
As only a hero could.
And yet they received nothing more,
Than a little golden star.
Countless heroes have lived and died,
But only a few ever truly earned such a title.
A true hero never worries about titles,
They do what is needed no matter the price.
A true hero is willing to make,
That ultimate sacrifice.
They will lay down their lives,
For their brothers-in-arms,
And give what they can for all those they love.
That is why I willingly gave,
My right leg for the man standing beside me.
I gave what I could so that he would live,
Hoping that he would do the same for another.
poem by Chad LaRowe
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Heroes Are Dead!
Like sacrificial lambs
were heroes quite dead,
with courage they thread
the fate that others feared
to die for sake of majority.
No matter what obstacles
or threats to their mortal lives
heroes dare risk their own honor
to prove the innocence of victims
who succumb to the devilish souls
Heroes stand for justice
and bring back the lost pride
grabbed and stolen by loan sharks
whose only concern is self interest
to enrich more thus wrecking the poor
Heroes deserve a monument
as memoir of their great sacrifices
in every race and country a hero is born
who fights against dictators of destruction
Heroes are the epitome of social justice
poem by Marvin Brato Sr
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The Madman - His Parables and Poems
You ask me how I became a madman. It happened thus: One day, long
before many gods were born, I woke from a deep sleep and found all
my masks were stolen,--the seven masks I have fashioned an worn in
seven lives,--I ran maskless through the crowded streets shouting,
'Thieves, thieves, the cursed thieves.'
Men and women laughed at me and some ran to their houses in fear
of me.
And when I reached the market place, a youth standing on a house-top
cried, 'He is a madman.' I looked up to behold him; the sun kissed
my own naked face for the first time. For the first time the sun
kissed my own naked face and my soul was inflamed with love for
the sun, and I wanted my masks no more. And as if in a trance I
cried, 'Blessed, blessed are the thieves who stole my masks.'
Thus I became a madman.
And I have found both freedom of loneliness and the safety from
being understood, for those who understand us enslave something in
us.
But let me not be too proud of my safety. Even a Thief in a jail
is safe from another thief.
poem by Khalil Gibran
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Sonnet XXXV: And Yet I Cannot
And yet I cannot reprehend the flight,
Or blame th'attempt presuming so to soar;
The mounting venture for a high delight
Did make the honor of the fall the more.
For who gets wealth that puts not from the shore?
Danger hath honor, great designs their fame,
Glory doth follow, courage goes before.
And though th'event oft answers not the same,
Suffice that high attempts have never shame.
The mean observer (whom base Safety keeps),
Lives without honor, dies without a name,
And in eternal darkness ever sleeps.
And therefore, Delia, 'tis to me no blot
To have attempted, though attain'd thee not.
poem by Samuel Daniel
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A Philosophy of Heroism
heroes are not easy to come by
heroic acts are a different story.
heroism a flag bestowed unfurled
live in the annals of moral sacrifice.
spilled his guts saving lives of others
courage to suffer and still carry on,
most heroically did so in silence
oh hero hero who do not cry out
his or her deeds carried by waves,
of ethics moral and agreed upon,
live on by consensus annd canon
of each era, we salute you one and all
Oh dear me! is a Nazi soldier a hero
who gave his life for his comrades
of a diseased inhuman ideology
a hero too?
are not women who suffer daily
selflessly help their children grow up
not heroes of heroic heroism
suffer the yoke and burden of a warped society
are not the accidents of genetic mishaps heroes,
heroes of statistics and those of accidents,
and those of injustice heroes,
of paying the price of survival for other regarding
Oh my kind listeners come tell me one and all
is this philosophy not far fetched and lopsided
and there is no such concept called hero,
take your medals put them under your pillows
take the stories and legends, myths and magic
are the fancy of the narrator pleasant to listen
and muse of sacrifice and other regarding
acts so noble and fascinating of wonder and admire
still there are some that are more heroic if only by
comparison indelible in our memory for ages to come
poem by Shimon Weinroth
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Coming Down Hard On Crime
They're coming down hard on crime.
And this you can believe.
All eyes will open wide.
And deceit and thieves,
Will cease to be.
So hold your head erect!
And know this will happen soon.
And sing a happy song.
Knowing we'll soon be crook free!
Come from behind those bushes,
Children.
Come...
Come sing along with me!
The 'boogeyman' is gone.
They're coming down hard on crime.
Sing...
('Coming down hard on crime...')
And this you can believe.
('This we can believe...')
I think you've got it.
All eyes will open wide
('Our eyes are open wide...
And deceit and thieves have ceased to be.')
Very nice!
Yes...
Deceit and thieves.
('Yes deceit and thieves')
Yes...
Deceit and thieves.
('Yes deceit and thieves')
YES...
DECEIT and THIEVES.
('DECEIT and THIEVES')
Together and raise our voices high!
YES...
DECEIT and THIEVES...
HAVE CEASED
TO
BE!
Marvelous children!
Wasn't that a 'happy tune'?
NOTE:
Doesn't this remind you of 'something' from...
Let's see...
The Sound of Music?
Yes!
When the hills became alive with it!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar
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Exploiting The Poor
sneaky thieves emerge bold
plot plan strike then take
priceless dignity unguarded
But what is worse?
When your dignity is stolen
taken with a smile
or when exploiters laugh
at victims or laugh
over their profits
amassed in evil deeds?
sneaky thieves sleep to wake
to prey upon new poor
new cycles of poverty helpless
poem by Terence George Craddock
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'Tis nobler to lose honor to save the lives of men than it is to gain honor by taking them.
quote by David Borenstein
Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Your Hero Will Never Be Mine
By the way you talk of your hero one would swear out of him the sun shine
Don''t try to convince me of his worth your hero will never be mine
To me your hero is responsible of crimes against humanity
Because of him thousands have died and thousands more maimed and injured why do you talk of him to me.
Our values are so very different I''m not saying you are wrong and I''m right
The one that you say is your hero I look on as a lesser light
I won''t argue with you about politics that''s not why I came in here tonight
I came here for a few quiet drinks and all I need is peace and quiet.
Go tell someone else of your hero since of him I do not wish to hear
You know how I feel on that subject so leave me for to drink my beer
For an argument you seem to be looking though for such I am not in the mood
You tell someone else of your hero forgive me if I do seem rude.
I don''t talk to you of my heroes as my heroes would seem cowards to you
But each to their own I believe in and those words as ever ring true
How come all of your heroes are war men did war ever solve anything
The war dead we well may remember but they can''t hear those whom their praises sing.
Don''t talk to me about your hero his type to me does not appeal
''Twould seem you are trying to annoy me since about him you know how I feel
I came here just for a few quiet drinks and since your hero is not a hero to me
Go talk to someone else about him and with what you say they may even agree.
poem by Francis Duggan
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Bazaar Of Balloons
If the ballooned bazaar is barraged by thieves,
Sell it afterwards to a balloonist who believes.
He sells it perhaps to a merchant on the loose,
This man offers a price to others to abuse
Them.
If this bazaar of balloons is a balcony now,
We see further than thieves can allow.
The plan is to frustrate the balloonist
In order to triumph with the cartoonist
Who draws from this.
The thieves have stolen the painting,
The painting of balloons they were reacquainting.
poem by Naveed Akram
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A Real Hero
A REAL HERO
Some people come into our life and quickly go. Some stay for a while and leave footprints on our hearts. And we are never, ever the same.
We admire some people because they are good at what they do and we want to be like them.
Both actions and character are keys to what it takes to be a hero. Perhaps a person is your hero because he or she is extremely honest, or may be that person fought to improve a bad situation or helped someone in great need.
Recipe of a hero: Although heroes are unique, there is a common denominator. A hero makes a difference to the lives of others, often without fanfare. The influence of a hero's actions can live long after the actual deeds are forgotten.
A hero models the great possibilities of the human spirit. This can help us discover our own talents and heroic qualities.
But remember: Heroes are only human. They may not do everything right all the time.
Learning to understand their mistakes and putting them into perspective is a sign of maturity. So imitate the good in others, while always trying to be our own unique best selves.
poem by Bhumika Wadhwa
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