'Love & Lust' via Shakespeare

Knowing the difference between love and lust is a constant source of grief and difficulty. William Shakespeare, for those who wish to invest themselves in a study of his words, in “Venus and Adonis” compares the two, side by side, the consequences and characteristics.

“Love comforteth like sunshine after rain, but Lust’s effect is tempest after sun; love’s gentle spring doth always fresh remain, Lusts sinter comes ere summer half be done; Love surfeits not, Lust like a glutton dies; Love is all truth, Lust full of forged lies.”

Oswald Chambers on humble service

Humility is a trademark of all the Christian churches. Servitude is a tenant of the Christian faith. And yet, as Oswald Chambers points out in this selection from his popular devotional, “My Utmost for His Highest”, the virtue of a humble soul can, at times, be stretched too far.

“The way we continually talk about our own inability is an insult to the Creator. The deploring of our own incompetence is a slander against God for having overlooked us.”

J.R.R. Tolkien on judgment

Capital punishment reigns as a question of strong emotions coming from both sides. Does any man carry the authority to deprive any other man of life? J.R.R. Tolkien addressed this issue in the second installment of his “Lord of the Rings” trilogy, “The Two Towers”. The creature Gollum proved himself as a constant threat: should one feel pity for his sorrowful state, or wrath for the crimes he has committed?

“Many that live deserve death. And some die that deserve life. Can you give that to them? Then be not too eager to deal out death in the name of justice, fearing for your own safety. Even the wise cannot see all ends.”

Superior Inferiority

Anyone who has ever experienced moments of inferiority, those times when others seem to receive all the breaks and all the elections to place of prominence, should feel a measure of solace from this keen observation by David Egner. The pool of souls the Son of God picked from to accompany Him on His quest – they were far from the popular, upper crust elite of that day.

“Not only was the Son of God born in an unlikely location and of unlikely parents, He chose His first followers at an unlikely place. He didn’t search the religious schools for the most learned scholars. He didn’t look among the ranks of brilliant military leaders. He stayed away from skilled statesmen and famous orators. Rather, Jesus went to the shores of Galilee and called out four common fishermen – Peter and Andrew, James and John.”

Calvin Coolidge talks Success

The equation, which delivers the success formula everyone seeks, also carries several key factors for its completion. The most integral of these factors, as former president Calvin Coolidge declares, is the same one with which victors claim their hard-fought prize.

“Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful men with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination are omnipotent. The slogan ‘press on’ has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.”

Ayn Rand on Greatness

Considering greatness, the antithesis it stirs within its enemies, Ayn Rand addresses in her classic work, “Atlas Shrugged”, the dividing line between those who are truly great, and those who desire its attributes. Hank Rearden, great for introducing a new metal stronger than steel into the world, sees his former wife Lillian as a soul who relished in the rewards of hard work, absent the effort and initiative such hard work required.

“The lust that drives other to enslave an empire, had become, in her limits, a passion for power over him. She had set out to break him, as if, unable to equal his value, she could surpass it be destroying it, as if the measure of his greatness would thus become the measure of hers, as if – he thought with a shudder – as if the vandal who smashed a statue were greater than the artist who made it, as the murderer who killed a child were greater than the mother who had given it birth.”