With Faith And Not With Fear
There are a few things I've learned about stagnation.
It does not motivate.
It does not create inspiration.
It is not devoted with discipline.
And it collects dust,
From where it sits to be blown away.
Everything that can be witnessed,
Has an expiration date.
There is no guaranteed time given,
To anything
Or anyone,
Sitting to contemplate what it is that should be done.
There are a few things I've learned about stagnation.
And I have mastered over one!
A learning I've done,
Not to listen more than I am willing to experience
My life with faith and not with fear.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Related quotes
Early Works - The Victors Have A Ball
Coloured lights shine across the cloister
on the dancers on the floor.
While on the stage a soloist is singing
of life’s lost cord.
In the corner sits a young man
with a moustache on his upper lip
trying so hard to look hip.
While an old, man is saying freedom
with happiness to all.
Let wars die of stagnation
and the victors have a ball.
The silkiness of a wayward light
makes shadows on the door
while creatures in their lustfulness
gather by the hoard.
In the room of bedlam, a young man sits
eating a stick of rock
and breaking it into bits.
While an old, man is saying freedom
with happiness to all.
Let wars die of stagnation
and the victors have a ball.
Date unknown.
Author’s note:
I have a feeling that this bit of nonsense was written in 1967. It is a guess, but because of certain things written in it sounds about right for that era.
poem by David Harris

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Keep Ascending the Tower of Knowledge
Most of us are learned
We learnt a number of things
Some of us even added
To the knowledge base
Of the discipline we belong to
Why, a few of us
Made the learned others
Wonder at the discoveries of
New philosophies
And at the inventions
That enhanced the standard of living
Of the common man
The person who keeps
Moving up the tower of knowledge
Sees far beyond
And has a vision of
Those subjects still to be
Explored by him or her
While the less learned
Is at the lower strata of this tower
And is yet to know
That there is lot many
To be known and learnt
An expert is one,
Who knows exactly
What he does not know
And this expertise comes
By being on the path of learning
Always and every where
Looking for something to be learnt
From each event, subject and situation
To know how much
You do not know
Keep ascending the tower of knowledge
poem by Bashyam Narayanan

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First Year University Expereinces
I learned why it is not wise to skip class often
I learned that skipping homework in university is not the same as skipping homework in high school
I learned what it feels like to be awake for over 2 days
I learned how to smoke pot from a bong
I learned how to compose an essay the day before it's due
I learned that the Freshman 15 is no joke
I learned how to do laundry
I learned to pretend to be happy
I learned to multitask
I learned to be more sociable
I learned why my parents and teachers warned me about the difficulty of university
I learned that failing is expensive
I learned small things, like freshly washed bed sheets, make me happy
I learned to lie
I learned how expensive alcohol is
I learned what it feels like to be a failure
I type this rant while skipping my business ethics class as I further delay the composition of my psychology term paper
poem by Michelle Cow

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What I Learned Today
What I learned today is that there will be a tomorrow,
what I learned today is the truth is full of pain and sorrow.
What I learned yesterday is people make mistakes,
what I learned yesterday is I will do whatever it takes.
What I learned Saturday when i watched you leave I take back
what I said, what I learned Saturday is when we fought i dread.
What I learned now is that part of my heart is gone,
what I learned now is you will no longer wake me up at dawn.
It is quiet with out you,
I feel I have many things to do.
poem by Angelina Sabia

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Sleep Waltz
for MCW
Get old enough so you won't have much to fear.
By then, the music plays inside your head
and everything beautiful must be learned by ear.
In the bathroom mirror I behold my wear and tear.
In our bedroom I try to levitate in bed.
Get old enough so you won't have much to fear.
Meanwhile, my son at six wants to keep me near
and we sing together every night head to head.
So everything beautiful must be learned by ear.
His father's tunes, though, will one day disappear
beyond today's routines and daily bread.
But get old enough so you won't have much to fear.
Remembering my mother was my first career
and the songs surrounding her on which I fed,
knowing everything beautiful must be learned by ear.
We may waltz in the kitchen now, my dear,
or dance out of time in our sleep instead.
Get old enough so you have nothing left to fear.
Everything beautiful must be learned by ear.
[from The Drift of Things, The Figures Press, 2001]
http://www.terencewinch.com
poem by Terence Winch

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Therefore...
They do not listen!
Therefore...
Nothing is learned.
Therefore...
They have earned their fight,
To remain in blight and ignorance.
They make claims for a need of change.
And wallow away in accepted indifference.
Choosing where they wish to be!
They can not see that.
And they argue amongst themselves,
Constantly.
They do not listen!
Yet their troubles disturb.
They want to be heard.
Blind and gathered in a collected herd!
Doing what they want.
Wanting what they approve and choose.
Therefore...
Those who have listened,
And observing it more and more.
Look for exits to distance themselves.
From those who have chosen to dwell,
In these spells of stagnation.
This is what they want!
And they flaunt and do it well!
Therefore...
Any truth or spark of enlightenment,
Will never be theirs to be shared to tell.
Therefore...
A sign from anyone sharing their grief,
Would please them!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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If I Am Not Committed To Its Existence
My life!
And the total living,
Of the experience of it...
Has afforded me the many lessons,
Learned and given...
By being discipline, observant and listening.
Although I admit those teachings,
Did not sink in to begin...
Until my opinions,
Of how others lived their lives...
Beyond and outside of my vision,
Ceased to end my judgements passed.
And that is when my life,
Began a whole new adventure....
On a more personal path.
Without my nose being in someone else's business.
Or believed I had 'all' the answers,
When too many questions I had...
About my own existence that took top position.
And with God's assistance...
I learned how to shut my mouth.
And with my eyes and ears open,
I grew to know when and how to pay attention.
Allowing me to grow to know that which I am still learning.
To live and let live to leave alone if that is God's wish!
Especially if I am not committed to its existence.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Do Not Wait For Others to Live Up to Expectations
I've learned a few things...
With time and age.
And what experience brings.
One major lesson,
That took a long time for me to accept!
Do not wait for others to live up to expectations.
Yours or theirs,
Suspected or professed.
Time will move on and leave you in regret.
That has been the best lesson yet,
I have learned!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Are we interested in treating the symptoms of poverty and economic stagnation through income redistribution and class warfare, or do we want to go at the root causes of poverty and economic stagnation by promoting pro-growth policies that promote prosperity?
Host For Stagnation
I am not one to participate,
In an exchange of pointless narratives...
As to 'why' or 'why not' an action taken was done.
If the action has been done,
That's it.
An act of completion has been witnessed.
There is no need to quibble over an option taken.
Or reasons why that choice was made.
It was made.
It was done!
Debates about it are a waste of time.
Not just for me...
But the ones who elect to use their minds.
And time wasted when one can least afford it...
Is a meaningless act.
To belabor a decision.
And to question one's reasoning!
To critique a depth of meaning.
Of the act itself...
After a choice was offered.
To feed what purpose?
To serve what cause?
Why is that worthy of anyone,
A ponder or a pause?
What is the initiative,
For doing something like this?
Can an ego be that slow to motivate?
To concentrate a participation on that?
Come on.
The process is useless!
Unless one is the host for stagnation?
And those affairs I avoid with determination.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Finally...thank you
I finally did it,
I gained the courage,
The courage to move on,
Fear is no longer apart of me,
Because,
Life is too short to dwell,
If it’s not about me,
Then I can’t have you in it,
You taught me things,
Showed me right and wrong,
But,
You gave me pain,
I didn’t know what to do,
I thought,
Sometimes I still think,
That having you in my life,
Is what I need,
Only because I loved you,
My life is all I have,
So what will I do,
Continue to be strong,
Be grateful,
For the things I learned,
Forget the pain you gave me,
And not make the same mistakes,
Life is about learning,
Experiences,
Even though this process was painful,
I learned the most beautiful lesson,
To love me,
Before,
Loving another,
As I write,
Tears want to stream down my face,
But they can’t,
Only because these tears aren’t for sadness,
It’s happiness,
Happiness because I grew strong,
Happiness because I moved on,
And I’m doing my dreams,
On my own…
So all I can say is,
Thank you.
poem by Latoya Fleming

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What I Learned From Loving You
Sometimes I still think of you
Love thats gone by and the things that I do.
Time heals hearts, so they all say
Passing of years slowly pulls the pain away
Oh, theres still a little tenderness
Left in everything I do
Its what I learned from loving you.
Its what I learned from loving you.
Times have changed, I have changed too
Even my eyes turned a deeper shade of blue
I guess its all that crying we went through
Its what I learned from loving you.
Its what I learned from loving you.
Well, I had too much to learn
To hold on to someone like you
It took losing you to make me see
The man you needed me to be.
I dont cry though were apart
And some day soon someone else
Will need this heart
Oh, next time Im gonna know
When a love is true
Its what I learned from loving you.
Its what I learned from loving you...
song performed by by Kenny Rogers

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Holding Onto A Discipline
I regard the making of an effort,
With actual attempts to do my best...
As my greatest achievement.
Compared to the many experiences I've had.
Holding onto a discipline,
And devoted to it isn't as simple as it seems.
I've learned the bigger the dream wished,
The more unnoticed to others is one's sacrifice.
And if the acquiring of money and things,
Is not associated to one's produced dreams...
One's achievement is not validated.
Although a life lived in a superficial existence is.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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Just Like Each Season Witnessed
If you are not living your life to the fullest,
In the HERE and NOW...
You will not be convinced about 'tomorrow'.
Because those expectations have yet to be accepted.
Those who grieve over yesterdays gone,
Wish to share their stagnation...
With someone who will give them time,
To empathize with a fixed mind wasting time!
And time...
Most people are finding,
Does not play favorites.
It keeps on ticking until someone unwittingly,
Believes for them time does not stop!
It does.
Just like each season witnessed!
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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I've learned
Ive learned that to love someone doesnt have to involve pain,
Ive learned that to have a friend you must be a friend first,
Ive learned that in time youll see your mistakes and learn from them,
Ive learned that to be alone sometimes is the best thing for you,
Ive learned that in order to love a person you must feel loved,
Ive learned that if your wrong admit it or youll never forgive yourself,
Ive learned that your first love will be a part of you and you may never forget,
Ive learned that in order to move on you must fix what was first wrong,
Ive learned that if you ever mess up, you can always start over again,
Ive learned that to be 'cool' doesnt involve pressure,
Ive learned to accept what I have and be happy,
Ive learned that people will come and go so tell the ones you love how you feel,
Ive learned that to respect yourself you must respect others,
Ive learned that your actions always involve consequences whether it be good or bad,
Ive learned that priceless words can mean the world to someone,
Ive learned that sometimes being silent is the best solution,
Ive learned to expect the unexpected,
Ive learned that healing a broken heart involves tears and pain,
Ive learned to see the world in the eyes of others,
And Ive learned that each new day is a day to touch a life.
poem by Carly Almonde

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The Sound Of Wings.....
from the bars of the cell,
i learned freedom from the body.
from the underside of the bridge,
i learned home has not a house.
from forty years of working,
i learned the bitterness of the slave.
from the political lies,
i learned that truth cant be bought.
from the books i read,
i learned to reason and question.
from the heroin needle,
i learned the value of life.
from love lost,
i learned how to love.
from doubt i learned seeking,
in seeking i found god to be more.
from the scars on my heart,
i learned to be a man.
from battles fought and lost,
i learned the need for peace.
from discrimination i learned equality,
from anger i learned forgiveness.
from the mirror i learned responsibility...
from the bars of the cell,
i learned the sound of wings!
poem by Eric Cockrell

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Homebase
People do make decisions to leave a comfort zone,
Wilfully...
To seek opportunities elsewhere,
With a doing of this regretfully, sometimes.
And there are those who feel less comforted,
By a showing of a lack of support...
Within their own homebase.
Unable to create their opportunities,
Without feeling to be chased away.
Knowing to maneuver around this truth,
Is too much to convince others to prove.
So they leave happily with this acknowledged...
A growth that explores life,
Is much more important to experience...
Than withnessing a tired stagnation permitted to exist.
While others sit with no ambition,
Advocating the acceptance of this.
Now...
To return with a learning process to share,
With others prepared to become aware...
Is a different story.
Since one's tolerance level has broadened,
To be or not to be involved.
poem by Lawrence S. Pertillar

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What Have We Learned From History
What have we learned from history little if anything
Of war men and war heroes their praises we still sing
Humankind have come far in technology and on the moon surface have trod
And still we fight for our Nation's flag and go to war for our God.
What have we learned from history not much if you ask me
We still have wars and famines and we still have poverty
And we still have this awful thing called ethnic cleansing and we still have refugees
And we still wage war on Mother Earth and we still pollute her seas.
What have we learned from history if anything at all
Before the baby has to walk the baby has to learn to crawl
And life is just a learning curve or so we have been told
But few of those who lack wisdom in their twenties grow wiser as they grow old.
What have we learned from history we have learned to populate
And by bulldozing more virgin woodlands more diseases we create
We pollute Mother Earth who feeds us and our successes seem so few
And that the World would do nicely without us only happens to be true.
What have we learned from history go ask one wiser than I
The World is far more polluted now than when I was a boy
And history has a habit of repeating itself a wise one once did say
And I've not learned from history though I grow old and gray.
poem by Francis Duggan

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By the time we hit fifty, we have learned our hardest lessons. We have found out that only a few things are really important. We have learned to take life seriously, but never ourselves.
quote by Charles Dickens

Submitted by Lucian Velea
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Learned...
from being homeless,
i learned the value of home!
from being hungry,
i learned the value of being fed.
from being sick,
i learned the value of health.
from being left alone,
i learned the value of love.
from being confined in a cell,
i learned the value of freedom.
from being persecuted,
i learned the value of human rights.
from being an infidel,
i learned to see the face of god...
poem by Eric Cockrell

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