Jan Mc

“I’ve seen a greater share of wonders, vast
And small, than most have done. My peace is made;
My breathing slows. I could not ask for more.
To reach beyond the stuff of day-to-day
Is worth this life of mine. Our kind is meant
To search and seek among the outer bounds,
And when we land upon a distant shore,
To seek another yet farther still. Enough.
The silence grows. My strength has fled, and Sol
Become a faded gleam, and now I wait,
A Viking laid to rest atop his ship.
Though fire won’t send me off, but cold and ice,
And forever shall I drift alone.
No king of old had such a stately bier,
Adorned with metals dark and grey, nor such
A hoard of gems to grace his somber tomb.
I check my straps; I cross my arms, prepare
Myself to once again venture into the
Unknown, content to face my end and pass
Beyond this mortal realm, content to hold
And wait and here to sleep—
To sleep in a sea of stars.
—THE FARTHEST SHORE 48–70
HARROW GLANTZER”
― Christopher Paolini, To Sleep in a Sea of Stars

“Knowledge is our gift.
Understanding is our blessing.
Wisdom is our fortune.
Enlightenment is our reward.

Art is our gift.
Science is our blessing.
Technology is our fortune.
God is our reward.

Time is our gift.
Light is our blessing.
Fate is our fortune.
Nature is our reward.

Land is our gift.
Water is our blessing.
Air is our fortune.
Life is our reward.

Mothers are our gift.
Youth are our blessing.
Elders are our fortune.
Children are our reward.

The past is our gift.
The present is our blessing.
The future is our fortune.
Eternity is our reward.

The mind is our gift.
The heart is our blessing.
The body is our fortune.
The soul is our reward.

Faith is our gift.
Joy is our blessing.
Virtue is our fortune.
Love is our reward.”
― Matshona Dhliwayo

“History is a very tricky thing. To begin with, you can't get it mixed up with the past. The past actually happened, but history is only what someone wrote down.”
― A. Whitney Brown, The Big Picture: An American Commentary

“The darker the night the brighter the stars. The deeper the grief the closer is God.”
― Fyodor Dostoevsky, Crime and Punishment